OBJECTIVE Obese patients are usually thought to have an increased risk for complications in coronary artery bypass surgery. METHODS Therefore, the data of 500 consecutive patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting at our department in 1998 by use of cardiopulmonary bypass were analyzed. Severe obesity was defined as body mass index (BMI) > or = 30.0 kg/m(2). Obese patients (n=100; gr...

A 69-year-old woman with angina had a lesion in the left lower lobe on chest film. Angiography revealed coronary artery disease in three vessels. Combined off pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and left lower lobectomy were performed through median sternotomy. This approach avoids complications due to staged operations and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). This report shows that simultaneo...

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and cardioplegic arrest has been performed safely over several decades. Cardiac surgery under cardiac arrest provides a bloodless stable operative field, that can facilitate anastomosis. In last decade, CABG without CPB, off-pump CABG (OPCAB) has become more common with advances in surgical instruments and technique. This...

A patient with acute coronary syndrome scheduled for urgent coronary artery bypass grafting developed a profound thrombocytopenia during therapy with intravenous heparin and the glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor tirofiban. Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and all other possible aetiologies were unlikely and the low platelet count had to be attributed to tirofiban. Anticoagulation during cardiopul...

Coronary artery disease remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We report two cases of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) associated with SLE. The first patient (a 45-year-old woman) underwent CABG operation for left main and two-vessel coronary disease using cardiopulmonary bypass. Successful CABG was done using off-pump technique in the se...

Background Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCABG) procedures can avoid the complications of an on-pump bypass. However, some cases unexpectedly require conversion to cardiopulmonary bypass during OPCABG. The risk factors associated with a sudden need for cardiopulmonary bypass were analyzed. Methods This retrospective study included 283 subjects scheduled for OPCABG from 2001 to 20...