Complete myocardial revascularization using only bilateral internal thoracic arteries provides a low-risk and durable 10-year clinical outcome.

Objectives: Bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) bypass provides long-term survival benefits over strategies that use single internal mammary arteries during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). However, the rate of adoption of this strategy remains very low. Moreover, optimal BITA configuration and the use of cardiopulmonary bypass still remain a matter of debate.

Five-year follow-up of drug-eluting stents implantation vs minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass for left anterior descending artery disease: a propensity score analysis.

Objectives: The spread of drug-eluting stents (DES) has reduced the incidence of early restenosis following percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). Meanwhile, development of minimally invasive coronary artery bypass surgery (MIDCAB) has offered a valuable alternative to conventional sternotomy with preservation of the benefit of the internal mammary artery use. Therefore, the revascularization of the left anterior descending (LAD) artery is suitable for both techniques.

Comparison of minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass surgery with implantation of drug-eluting stentsin patients with left anterior descending coronary artery disease.

Objective: : Bypass surgery and percutaneous coronary interventions improve the clinical status of patients with left anterior descending coronary artery disease. However, these techniques differ in invasiveness and in the need for subsequent reinterventions. The development of minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB) surgery and of drug-eluting stents (DES) offers perspectives to close this gap.

Reduced mortality in high-risk coronary patients operated off pump with preoperative intraaortic balloon counterpulsation.

Background: Preoperative intraaortic balloon pump (IABP) counterpulsation has better outcomes compared with perioperative or postoperative insertion in critical patients, and off-pump surgical procedures have been advocated to reduce mortality in high-risk patients. However, some surgeons are reluctant to perform beating heart operations in specific patient subgroups, including those with unstable angina or patients with low ejection fraction, because of their possible perioperative hemodynamic instability.

Methods: We evaluated combined beating heart procedures and preoperative IABP in selected high-risk patients and compared our results with the predictive European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) model.

Giant splenic artery aneurysm presenting as unusual cause of obstructive jaundice.

Giant splenic aneurysms larger than 8 cm (GSAA) are rare and often asymptomatic but present an increased risk of dramatic rupture, a life-threatening complication. The management of these aneurysms is especially challenging. We probably report the first case of GSAA revealed by clinical mechanical jaundice due to direct compression of the biliary tree.