Revascularization of the ischemic gastric tube using the left internal thoracic artery.

Ischemia of the gastric tube during use as an esophageal substitute may have serious consequences. We describe a method to correct substernal gastric tube ischemia using the left internal thoracic artery as a source of arterial inflow to a short gastric artery. This permitted successful reconstruction of the upper alimentary tract in this patient.