[HSF] Another Victory for the LAD Stent.....

[Hgrmd at aol.com]

Michael,
  One of the things I remember from the STS was from the Cleveland  Clinic in 
which their conclusion was that redo CABG was generally not warranted  if 
there was a patent LIMA to the LAD.  Extending that general theme, I  hope that 
one day the medical community will one day realize that most patients  do 
better with a LIMA to the LAD rather than PCI for proximal LAD disease.   I suspect 
we would have a better chance of winning that battle with  MIDCAB's.  
Robotically assisted takedown of the LIMA is already a  reality.  Perhaps with the 
Cardica distal anastomotic device, it can  routinely be down endoscopically.  
However, I will say I heard a couple of  private comments that this device may 
have its problems.  I want to see  more long term data before I really take the 
plunge with this device.
  Rather than lament that cardiologists and patients don't want to  have 
their chest split to install a mammary and 3 veins, we should show them  that we 
truly have a better minimally invasive alternative to construct a LIMA  to the 
LAD.  Certainly, in your poor patient's case, he would have had a  better 
chance of survival.
 
Hal



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