OBJECTIVE: To assess the results observed during the early postoperative period in patients who had the posterior coronary arteries revascularized without cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), in regard to the following parameters: age, sex,bypass grafts types, morbidity and mortality. METHODS: From January 1995 to June 1998, 673 patients underwent myocardial revascularization (MR). Of this total, 607 (90.20%) MR procedures were performed without CPB. The posterior coronary arteries (PCA) were revascularized in 298 (44.27%) patients, 280 (93.95%) without CPB. The age of the patients ranged from 37 to 88 years (mean, 61 years). The male gender predominated, with 198 men (70.7%). The revascularization of the posterior coronary arteries had the following distribution: diagonalis artery (31 patients, 10%); marginal branches of the circumflex artery (243 patients, 78.7%); posterior ventricular artery (4 patients, 1.3%); and posterior descending artery (31 patients, 10%). RESULTS: Procedure-related complications without death occurred in 7 cases, giving a morbidity of 2.5%. There were 11 deaths in the early postoperative period (mortality of 3.9%). CONCLUSION: Similarly to the anterior coronary arteries, the posterior coronary arteries may benefit from myocardial revascularization without CPB.

No período de janeiro de 1995 a dezembro de 1996, nossa equipe cirúrgica procurou sintematizar a cirurgia de revascularização completa do miocárdio sem circulação extracorpórea. Foram realizadas 385 operações de revascularização do miocárdio, das quais 333 (86%) sem o uso de circulação extracorpórea. O objetivo do presente estudo é analisar os resultados imediatos destes 333 pacientes, no que concerne ao tempo de permanência hospitalar, idade, sexo, número de enxertos e morbimortalidade. Todos os pacientes foram submetidos a cineangiocoronariografia prévia. Realizaram-se pontes para todas as coronárias, inclusive para as marginais da circunflexa. A idade variou de 35 a 86 anos, com média de 61 anos. O sexo masculino foi predominante com 214 (64%) pacientes. O tempo médio de permanência hospitalar foi de 7 dias. O número total de pontes implantadas foi 625, variando de 1 a 4, com média de 1,9 pontes por paciente. Houve 7 casos de complicações sem óbitos, perfazendo um total de 2% de morbidade. Registraram-se 10 óbitos no pós-operatório imediato, equivalentes a 3% de mortalidade. Em face dos dados obtidos, concluímos que este método pode ser utilizado para a grande maioria dos pacientes a serem submetidos à cirurgia de revascularização do miocárdio, com baixa morbimortalidade.

From January/95 to December/96 our surgical team (ICORP - Fortaleza - Ceará), has performed coronary artery surgery without cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) as a routine. During this period, 385 operations were sequencially performed, 86 per cent of them (333) without CPB. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the results of these 333 patients regarding hospitalization time, age, gender, number of grafts, functional status and morbimortality. All patients were submitted to previous coronary arteriography. All coronaies were by-passed, including the circumflex marginal artery. The age of these patients ranged from 35 to 86 years with a mean age of 61. The average time of hospitalization was 7 days; 625 grafts were placed varying from 1 to 4 with an average of 1.9 by patient. The incidence of procedure related with complications was 2 per cent (7 patients). Ten patients died in the early postoperative course. Considering the data obtained herein we conclude that this procedure can be used in the great majority of patients that undergo coronary artery surgery.

No período de outubro de 1995 a fevereiro de 1996, 16 pacientes selecionados foram submetidos a cirurgia de revascularização do miocárdio através de minitoracotomia ântero-lateral esquerda. Em todos os casos a artéria torácica interna esquerda foi dissecada, para posterior anastomose com o ramo interventricular anterior (RIA) sem a utilização de circulação extracorpórea. A idade variou de 43 a 77, com média de 60 anos. Sessenta e dois por cento dos pacientes eram do sexo masculino. Não houve complicações tais como: hemorragias, acidente vascular cerebral, insuficiência renal aguda, mediastinite ou infarto agudo do miocárdio. Não houve mortalidade no grupo em questão. Em 4 (25%) pacientes foi realizado estudo hemodinâmico, que demostrou uma normalidade da anastomose da artéria torácica interna para o ramo interventricular anterior. Devido aos excelentes resultados iniciais, acreditamos que este procedimento possa ser empregado com maior freqüência e com a familiarização dos grupos cirúrgicos, e que as artérias diagonais e marginais da circunflexa possam ser beneficiadas com este tipo de procedimento.

Between October 1995 and February 1996, sixteen patients were selected to undergo to surgical myocardial revascularization through left anterolateral minithoracotomy. The left internal thoracic artery was dissected in all patients, for consecutive anastomosis with interventricular anterior artery, without using extracorporeal circulation. Patients age ranged from 43 to 77, average 60 years. Sixty-two percent of them were men. There were no complications such as: acute myocardial infarction, mediastinitis, acute renal failure, hemorrhagy or stroke. There were no deaths. Four (25%) patients were submitted to cardiac catheterization that showed patency of grafts and grafted native arteries. Due to excellent initial results, the authors believe that this technique can be employed with greater frequency and that its use can be extended to the treatment of diagonal branches of the interventricular anterior artery and marginal branches of the circunflex, as soon as the surgical teams become more familiarized with it.