Introduction
The operative risk of aortic valve replacement (AVR) after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is known to be high because graft may be injured by median sternotomy, leading to serious myocardial ischemia and resultant poor prognosis.1 Moreover, in some cases, trans-catheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) after CABG can not be selected for various reasons, and surgical AVR must be performed.2 In such situations, myocardial protection during cardiac surgery is an important point of discussion, and some unique methods have been reported to avoid graft damage.3 We experienced a case of AVR through right lateral mini-thoracotomy after CABG with the bilateral internal thoracic artery (ITA) grafts. As the grafts were patent and native coronary arteries were totally occluded, systemic hyperkalemia and deep hypothermia were utilized to induce cardiac arrest and maintain adequate myocardial protection without touching the bilateral ITA grafts. Herein is reported the methods and cautions in this strategy. We have obtained the consent of the patient for publication.