Role of Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in Patients With Malignant Neoplastic Disease

Although the long-term benefits of conventional coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) are obvious, postoperative morbidity and mortality and the length of recovery associated with cardiopulmonary bypass are the main concerns of cardiac surgeons and cardiologists. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effectiveness and advantage of the off-pump CABG for patients with concomitant malignant disorders requiring myocardial revascularization. From March 1997 to February 1999, 51 patients underwent off-pump CABG. Of these, there were 9 patients who had concomitant malignant disease requiring noncardiac surgery: gastric cancer (4), urinary bladder cancer (2), cholangioma (1), lung cancer (1) and colon cancer (1). Off-pump CABG was performed through a sternotomy, left thoracotomy or subxiphoid incision. Five patients received single grafting and 4 received double. The mean operative time for the off-pump CABG was 167 min. The total amount of bleeding during the off-pump CABG was 450-890 ml. Simultaneous noncardiac operations were carried out in 5 patients. The other 4 patients underwent subsequent operations for the malignancy uneventfully. In contrast, of the 4 patients with concomitant malignant disorders who underwent standard CABG during the period before the use of off-pump CABG, 2 died without undergoing the subsequent noncardiac operation. Off-pump CABG is quite efficient and is of great advantage in patients with malignancy who require myocardial revascularization in addition to noncardiac surgery for the cancer.