Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting via median sternotomy in a patient with a history of esophagectomy with substernal gastric tube reconstruction: report of a case.

We performed successful off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB) in a patient with unstable angina caused by triple-vessel disease, who had undergone esophagectomy with substernal gastric tube reconstruction for esophageal cancer 40 years earlier. Preoperative multidetector-row computed tomography was done to evaluate the course of the gastric tube and also that of the gastroepiploic artery, which feeds the gastric tube. Following careful sternal re-entry and adequate dissection, OPCAB was performed safely via a median sternotomy without injuring the gastric tube or causing hemodynamic instability. The patient had an uneventful early postoperative course.