A technique for salvaging a critical internal mammary artery bypass graft damaged during resternotomy.

Resternotomy in the presence of a patent internal mammary artery graft poses an addition hazard to the reoperation. We describe a situation in which the patent mammary artery graft to the left anterior descending artery was severed and retracted during sternal reentry for an aortic valve replacement. We illustrate a simple technique for restoring the blood supply using a coronary artery shunt.