Off-pump redo coronary artery bypass grafting from descending aorta to the posterolateral area through a left thoracotomy in patients with a patent internal thoracic artery graft.

The patients were a 73-year-old man (Case 1) and 56-year-old man (Case 2) who developed angina pectoris and heart failure. Case 2 showed chronic renal failure on hemodialysis. These patients showed posterolateral myocardial ischemia with a patent internal thoracic artery graft to the left anterior descending artery. Left ventricle ejection fraction was 29% and 33%, respectively. Catheter intervention was unsuccessful, so we performed revascularization from the descending aorta to coronary arteries with saphenous vein grafts via a left thoracotomy using an off-pump technique. In case 2, proximal anastomosis was constructed with the Symmetric aortic connector. This procedure appeared to be a very safe and useful method as an option for redo coronary artery bypass grafting in the posterolateral area in patients with patent old grafts and poor left ventricular function.