Off-pump coronary surgery for allograft vasculopathy 8 years after heart transplant

Exp Clin Transplant. 2009 Dec;7(4):261-3.

Abstract

Cardiac allograft vasculopathy is a severe complication after heart transplant, and is the major cause of death in patients surviving 1 year after transplant. We present a 59-year-old patient undergoing off-pump, coronary artery bypass surgery, 8 years after heart transplant. Owing to toxic liver disease, the lipid lowering therapy with statins had to be stopped 6 years after transplant, and coronary artery disease developed rapidly within 2 years. Off-pump, coronary bypass surgery was performed using a new, multisuction cardiac positioner; a disposable stabilizer; and a proximal seal system to avoid clamping of the aorta. The patient received 3 bypass grafts: the left internal thoracic artery; to the left anterior descending coronary artery; 1 saphenous vein graft to the marginal branch of the circumflex artery; and 1 saphenous vein graft to the right coronary artery. His postoperative course was uneventful.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Coronary Artery Bypass, Off-Pump* / instrumentation
  • Coronary Artery Disease / etiology
  • Coronary Artery Disease / surgery*
  • Heart Transplantation / adverse effects*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Transplantation, Homologous
  • Treatment Outcome