The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 49, 816-818, Copyright © 1990 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Myocardial revascularization with the lateral costal artery
AR Hartman, KI Mawulawde, JP Dervan and CE Anagnostopoulos
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University Hospital, Stony Brook, New York.
The lateral costal artery is a branch of the internal mammary artery that
occurs in 27% of cadaver series. The similarities to the internal mammary
artery and its easy accessibility would suggest its use as a bypass conduit
for coronary revascularization. We describe the harvesting and utilization
of this artery as an in situ coronary bypass graft, and we have initiated a
study examining the exact frequency of this anomalous vessel. The
availability of the lateral costal artery either unilaterally or
bilaterally adds another dimension to the concept of complete arterial
conduit myocardial revascularization.