Implants of the Internal Mammary Artery into Ischemic Dog Ventricles

Abstract

Implantation of the internal mammary artery into the ventricular myocardium as proposed by Vineberg, has been under study in our laboratory for the past three and one-half years. In a previous article, We have reported our experiences with this procedure as applied to normal dog ventricles.5 We used a technique in which, among other details, all the branches of the internal mammary artery were ligated and cut, the end of the main artery was left open in the myocardial tunnel, and the implant was anchored to the epicardium at the tunnel entrance. A description of this technique is reported elsewhere.^3,4 In our first series of 30 implants into 16 normal (nonischemic) dog ventricles, subjected to second operation 4-28 months later, we found no evidence that the implant afforded protection against acute graded coronary artery ligations. At time of killing, injection of Schlesinger mass into the heart side of the