Thermal damage of internal thoracic artery and ultra high radiofrequency

The gold standard in left anterior descending branch coronary artery surgery is performing an internal thoracic artery (ITA)bypass.Seventy-four ITA specimens were divided into two groups depending on device used for harvesting (radiofrequency-knife (RF) or electrocauter (EC)). Demonstrated results suggest that the radiosurgery in comparison to conventional electrocautery could reduce thermal damage to the endothelial layer of ITA, compared to the conventional electrocautery and potentially optimize the quality of ITA bypass grafts.