Evidence that revascularization by ventricular-internal mammary artery implants increases longevity. Twenty-four year, nine month follow-up.

Revascularization of the heart is a means of relieving symptoms of coronary artery disease--such as angina, fatigue, and dyspnea. The question of whether revascularization prolongs the life of the patient has been debated. My colleagues and I have reviewed our years of experience with patients treated by implantation of internal mammary arteries into the ventricles.

Revascularization via healthy myocardial arteriolar networks compared with that through diseased surface coronary arteries.

Myocardial mammary artery implants revascularize via the undiseased coronary microcirculation. Such implants, followed for up to 20 years, showed no atherosclerosis, while the coronary arteries of the patients became totally occluded. Implant patency with collateralization was 80%; some patients were living entirely on blood supplied by mammary implants.

Direct revascularization of acute myocardial infarction by implantation of left internal mammary artery into infarcted left ventricular myocardium.

This is a preliminary report. Clearly, the internal mammary artery implanted into the infarcted anterolateral portion of the wall of the left ventricle has been of help in decreasing the size of the infarction and in maintaining the life of the dogs and normal function six hours after a large left ventricular wall myocardial infarction had been created. More animals need to be studied at the end of six hours, eight hours, and ten hours after implantation.