Method for coronary artery bypass

Abstract

The invention comprises a method for performing a coronary artery bypass graft on a beating heart under thoracoscopic visualization without opening the chest wall. At least one small opening is formed in the patient's chest, a target artery for an arterial blood supply is located, instruments are introduced through one or more small openings formed in the patient's chest to prepare the target artery for fluid connection to the coronary artery, and instruments are introduced through one or more small openings formed in the patient's chest to connect the target artery to the coronary artery distal from a stenosis. In a preferred embodiment, a minimal left anterior intercostal thoracotomy provides access to form an anastomosis between the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) and the left anterior descending artery (LAD) while thoracoscopic viewing facilitates harvesting the LIMA. In other embodiments, access to the patient's heart may be obtained through a trocar sheath or other means for providing percutaneous access to the patient's thoracic cavity without opening the chest wall. Thoracoscopic visualization, depending on the procedure, is used to locate the arterial blood supply, the location of the coronary artery to be bypassed and the location of the occlusion in the artery. In other embodiments, the diagonal (Dx) or circumflex (Cx) arteries may be bypassed.

Description

[0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10 / 338,487 filed Jan. 7, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,219,671, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09 / 660,284 filed on Sep. 12, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,644,319, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09 / 340,913 filed on Jun. 28, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,889, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08 / 889,616 filed on Jul. 7, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,125, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08 / 419,991 filed Apr. 10, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,888,247, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference thereto, in their entireties, and to which we claim priority under 35 U.S.C. Section 120.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention is directed to a method for performing a minimally invasive coronary artery bypass graft. More particularly, the method permits a thoracoscopic procedure without the need for extracorporeal circulation or other cardiopulmonary bypass. [00...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006] The invention comprises a method for performing CABG procedures without the need for opening the chest wall, stopping the heart or providing cardiopulmonary bypass. Generally, at least one small opening is formed in the patient's chest, a target artery for an arterial blood supply is located through an opening in the patient's chest, instruments are introduced through one or more small openings formed in the patient's chest to separate the target artery from its support base; and instruments are introduced through one or more small openings formed in the patient's chest to connect the target artery to a portion of a coronary artery distal from a stenosis in fluid communication therewith to supply arterial blood from the target artery thereto. In a preferred embodiment, a minimal left anterior intercostal thoracotomy provides access to form the anastomosis between the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) and the left anterior descending artery (LAD) while thoracoscopic viewing facilitates harvesting the LIMA. In other embodiments, access to the patient's heart may be obtained through a trocar sheath or other means for providing percutaneous access to the patient's thoracic cavity without opening the chest wall. Depending on the type of access, thoracoscopic visualization is used to locate the arterial blood supply, the location of the coronary artery to be bypassed or the location of the occlusion in the artery. In other embodiments, the diagonal (Dx) or circumflex (Cx) arteries may be bypassed.

Problems solved by technology

These requirements are extremely invasive, pose significant risks, require lengthy hospitalization and are expensive.

Similarly, the other alternatives suffer from their own drawbacks.

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