Use of a handheld epicardial ultrasonic Doppler flow detector to locate an intramyocardial coronary artery encased in inflamed neoplastic pericardium.

A 44-year-old man had severe stenosis of the left main coronary artery. The middle portion of the left anterior descending coronary artery was in an intramyocardial location. The pericardium, ascending aorta, epicardium, and coronary arteries were encased by a metastatic, poorly differentiated papillary adenocarcinoma. The left anterior descending artery was located with the aid of a handheld epicardial ultrasonic Doppler flow detector, and grafted with the left internal thoracic artery on a beating heart. Subsequently, the patient underwent 10 cycles of chemotherapy More than 22 months later, he was asymptomatic and in remission from neoplastic disease.