A simple system to deliver blood cardioplegia.

We describe a simple and inexpensive system designed to deliver blood cardioplegia either diluted or at the patient's hematocrit, with controlled temperature and additive concentration. This system can be applied to any pump set, and suits any strategy for clinical myocardial preservation.

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum: is the left internal mammary artery a suitable conduit for coronary artery bypass grafting?

Coronary artery revascularization remains a feasible and beneficial treatment for coronary artery disease in patients with pseudoxanthoma elasticum. Careful angiographic evaluation of the left internal mammary artery and coronary arteries is required in patients with pseudoxanthoma elasticum with suspected coronary artery disease. A nonstenosed left internal mammary artery at angiography may be used as a conduit for coronary artery revascularization; however, both the effect of harvest and anastomosis on the disease process in the left internal mammary artery and the long-term patency of left internal mammary artery grafts remain unknown.