MIDCAB

MIDCAB

Recent technological advances in cardiac surgery are starting to have an impact on the way in which cardiac surgery is carried out. Traditional cardiac surgery necessitates the use of a large incision down the middle of the chest. The ribs then need to be split and retracted out of the surgical field. The heart is then exposed and either stopped and the blood routed through a cardiopulmonary bypass machine, or isolated as in beating heart surgery. Minimally Invasive Direct Coronary Artery Bypass is now a viable option for some patients.

The procedure does not require as large an incision as with CABG, instead a smaller 10-12 cm incision is made over the left side of the chest. The left internal mammary artery is then harvested to use as the graft vessel. The heart is kept beating with this form of surgery but a special device isolates the portion of the heart being grafted. The graft can then be placed to bypass the diseased or occluded coronary artery.

Because this technique can only be used for treating one or two grafts, it is not an option open to all patients unfortunately. The Wellington Hospital is proud to be the only independent sector provider able to facilitate this procedure with the aid of our highly specialised cardiac surgeons and appropriate state of the art equipment.