Surgical Treatment of Angina Pectoris

Abstract

Although the status of surgical treatment of angina is disputed and uncertain, the nature of the disease process has allowed 3 approaches to this problem: denervation of the heart for relief of pain, reduction of metabolic demands on coronary circulation by thyroidectomy, and improvement of arterial circulation to the myocardium. Methods and procedures developed during the past 50 years are discussed. Two procedures studied extensively in the laboratory have been the bypass graft and the patch graft following coronary arteriotomy. Progressive developments in arteriography, surgical technic, and improvements in surgical technic, and improvements in surgical management justify more intensive investigations of this approach toward relief of coronary occlusive disease.