On-Pump Beating Heart Surgery Offers an Alternative for Unstable Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

Abstract Background: Cardiac surgery has expanded the available approaches to aortocoronary artery bypass grafting to include approaches from minimally invasive surgery to full sternotomy. The heart can be arrested, left beating, or assisted with a right ventricular assist device or cardiopulmonary bypass pump. We have examined the 4 surgical modes that we use routinely in our large multisurgeon practice to determine our selection biases and the outcomes of the different techniques.

Conversion in off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting: an analysis of predictors and outcomes.

Background: The incidence, predictive factors, and outcomes related to conversion from off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) to on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (ONCAB) have not been well defined. We sought to determine the incidence of conversion, predictive factors, and any associated adverse consequences.

Methods: From January 2000 through June 2002, 1,644 patients underwent nonemergent OPCAB with 61 patients requiring conversion from OPCAB to ONCAB.