Advances in Surgical Revascularization

Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) has been one of the most commonly performed major operations in the world, with nearly 450,000 cases performed in the United States yearly. The longevity of CABG and its use as a durable and reliable intervention for the prognostic and symptomatic treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD) have been validated by over 30 years of prospective randomized study. In most surgical specialties, minimally invasive surgery refers to the access the operator takes to the surgical field. Hybrid coronary revascularization (HCR) utilizes a combination of minimally invasive CABG and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) techniques for revascularization in the setting of multivessel CAD. CABG remains the gold standard by which all other revascularization strategies are measured. However, the advent of minimally invasive and robotic approaches for surgical revascularization provides opportunity for less morbid operations with comparable outcomes.