Repair of coarctation of the aorta in adults with simultaneous aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting.

The authors present three patients who had either coronary artery disease or severe aortic stenosis or both along with congenital coarction of the aorta. The use of a heterotopic bypass (Dacron tube implanted between the ascending and descending aorta) allowed the surgeons to correct the coarction through a median sternotomy and perform the coronary artery bypass grafting and valve replacement at the same time. The authors are convinced that the scarcely mentioned heterotopic bypassing of the coarcted aorta should be added to the armamentarium of the surgeons who operate on patients with coarctation or recoarctation of the aorta in adulthood or with coarctation that is associated with cardiac lesions.