Intraoperative color Doppler ultrasound assessment of anastomoses of the left internal mammary artery to the left anterior descending coronary artery during off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery correlates with angiographic evaluation at the 8-month follow-up.

Abstract

Intraoperative color Doppler ultrasound allows a detailed evaluation of LIMA-LAD anastomoses during off-pump surgery, and the results correlate significantly with those of angiographic evaluation after 8 months. The present study shows that epicardial ultrasound is a promising tool for verification of LIMA-LAD anastomoses performed on the beating heart and may reduce the risk of impaired graft flow caused by technical errors.