[Topographic-anatomical bases of the use of the inferior epigastric artery in creation of free graft for aortocoronary shunt].

: Ten experiments were conducted on nonfixed human cadavers of males and females 50 to 70 years of age. The inferior epigastric artery arises from the medial wall of the external iliac artery 1.0-1.5 cm proximal to the inguinal ligament. Its diameter at the site of its origin varies from 2.5 to 4.0 mm and is 3.25 +/- 0.13 mm on the average. At the level of the umbilical ring the average diameter of the artery is 1.47 +/- 0.03 mm. The total length of the arterial segment which can be used for transplantation varies from 11 to 16.5 cm, being 14.60 +/- 0.48 cm on the average. An approach through an inferomedian incision of the abdominal wall is preferable. The transplant is taken out together with the veins and the surrounding connective tissue. The length and diameter of the inferior epigastric artery are sufficient for using it as an aortocoronary shunt in revascularization of the myocardium in patients with ischemic heart disease.