Perfusion flow assessment of coronary shunt during off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting.

Background: Coronary shunts are widely used to prevent myocardial ischemia during off-pump coronary artery bypass graft (OPCAB) procedures. Although clinical effectiveness has been reported, actual perfusion flow has not been well assessed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate actual shunt flow and its pattern during passive coronary perfusion in clinical OPCAB.