Future and Perspectives of Surgical Revascularisation of Triple Vessel Disease

Dear Colleagues, 

The treatment of coronary artery disease has made great progress not only in the research and development of medical and interventional, but also in surgical therapy. In the mid-20th century, the development of the heart–lung machine set the cornerstone for modern and successful myocardial revascularization. However, Kolesov, the father of coronary revascularization, had stated already back in 1963 that cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was safe and reliable but that the inflammatory response was too important to justify its use for CABG.

As experience increased and coronary surgery became more widespread worldwide, the potential adverse effects of CPB were further recognized, and by the end of the 20th century, off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting had become widespread. In fact, during the same period, attempts were also made to reduce surgical trauma caused by sternotomy using miniaturized extracorporeal circuit or smaller approaches, including keyhole surgery or robotic surgery. However, these procedures came not only with advantages but also with drawbacks, therefore leading to discussions regarding their appropriateness. Many studies and registries have unsuccessfully tried to clarify the question of the best form of therapy, but science has not always been at the driving seat of surgery.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present the personal views of experienced cardiovascular surgeons, familiar with newer approaches, on the future of surgical revascularization of triple vessel disease.

All surgical and interventional alternatives can be discussed with their pros and cons, whether conventional bypass surgery with normal or mini extracorporeal circulation, OPCAB, MIDCAB or LAST, MICS CABG, TECAB, and robotic-assisted or hybrid approaches. Invited surgeons may present their perspectives on why certain alternatives have failed either in concept or in implementation and why others seem promising. The available data in the literature, regardless of format, become knowledge through the interaction with a person’s previous knowledge, skills, intuition, and experience. It is therefore expected that different views will be presented. Original papers from colleagues presenting their research with quality assessment of their patients are welcome.

Dr. Helmut Mair
Dr. Matteo Pettinari
Prof. Dr. Christian Hagl
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Medicina is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• coronary heart disease
• coronary heart disease
• prognosis
• revascularization
• extracorporeal circulation
• cardiopulmonary bypass
• minimally invasive surgery
• off-pump
• CABG
• TECAB
• OPCAB
• LAST
• MIDCAB
• robotic cardiac surgery
• MICS CABG
• hybrid approach
• structured learning
• organizational learning
• simulation training