Minimally invasive internal thoracic artery harvest: the hybrid approach

BACKGROUND: Safe harvesting of the left internal thoracic artery is a difficult problem during minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting without cardiopulmonary bypass. A complete internal thoracic artery dissection through a limited approach is technically demanding and time consuming and different techniques have been proposed. METHODS AND RESULTS: Based on our experience, the different surgical approaches and technical considerations are reviewed. CONCLUSIONS: A hybrid technique using dissection under direct vision and completed by thoracoscopy is discussed and proposed as our preferred technique of internal thoracic artery harvesting.