In conclusion, surgical myocardial revascularization has utilized diverse methods to increase blood flow to the starving myocardium. These methods initially used the microcirculation as the portal to reach myocytes until angiography showed that the obstructions were macrovascular. This resulted in a 30-year era of direct attack on the coronary blockages by coronary bypass. Surgical conduits unfortunately have longevity considerably less than that of native arteries and are limited in number. Alternative conduits, both biologic and prosthetic, have not yet proved to have the same clinical results as the ITA. More patients are living long enough to have the extensiveness of their disease exhaust conventional therapies. Newer therapy, restricted thus far to untreatables, revisits the microcirculation by making laser channels. These many innovative procedures have benefited hundreds of thousands of patients. They emerged from the probity and innovation of many individual surgeons.
