Abstract

Importance of coronary reconstruction for the succes sful outcome in pos tcardiotomy assisted circulation. To demonstrate the importance of coronary reconstruction for the successful outcome in postcardiotomy LOS, 3 patients who required assisted circulation were studied. Case 1 28y. male) underwent Bentall's operation for acute aortic dissection (DeBakey type I) and developed severe LV failure due to progression of dissection into the left coronary orifice. Case 2 (44y, female) underwent modified Ben tall's operation for acute aortic dissection (DeBakey type I) and developed cardiogemc shock due to left coronary ischemia at 45 days after the initial operation. Case 3 underwent intracardiac repair for Tetralogy of Fallot, however, developed severe RV failure due to injury of right coronary artery which arising from the left anterior descending artery (single coronary artey=left 2a type). Aorto-coronary bypass was placed for these patients using saphenous vein graft and all 3 patients were successfully separated from the assisted circulation after 117 hours. In conclusion, coronary reconstruction is essential for the successful outcome of assisted circulation in patients with postcardiotomy LOS due to coronary ischemia.