Objective: New techniques for minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting have recently emerged. The purpose of this study was to determine the safety and efficacy of Port-Access (Heartport, Inc., Redwood City, Calif.) coronary revascularization and to evaluate with angiography the early graft patency rate with this new approach.
Methods: From October 1996 to May 1997, 31 patients underwent Port-Access coronary artery bypass grafting with an anterior minithoracotomy and endovascular-occlusion cardiopulmonary bypass. There were 26 men and 5 women with a mean age of 62 years (range 42 to 82 years). Fifteen patients underwent single bypass; 12 patients underwent double bypass, and 4 patients underwent triple bypass. Bypass conduits included the left internal thoracic artery (n = 30), right internal thoracic artery (n = 2), radial artery (n = 10), and saphenous vein (n = 6). Three sequential grafts were used. Angiographic studies of the bypass grafts were performed in 27 of 31 patients (87%).
Results: There were no deaths, neurologic deficits, myocardial infarctions, or aortic dissections. Conversion to sternotomy was not required in any case. There were two reoperations for bleeding, one reoperation for tamponade, and one reoperation for pulmonary embolus. Postoperative angiography revealed anastomotic patency of the left internal thoracic artery to left anterior descending artery in 26 of 26 grafts (100%) with overall anastomotic patency in 43 of 44 grafts (97.7%).
Conclusion: These results demonstrate that Port-Access coronary artery bypass can be performed accurately and safely with acceptable morbidity. This approach allows for multivessel revascularization on an arrested, protected heart with excellent anastomotic precision and reproducible early graft patency.