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J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2005;130:221-222
© 2005 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Brief Communication

An alternative retractor for transcervical thymectomy

Christopher B. Komanapalli, MD, Thomas D. Person, MD, Paul Schipper, MD, Mithran S. Sukumar, MD *

Department of Surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Ore.

revisions received November 1, 2004; accepted for publication November 4, 2004.

* Address for reprints: Mithran Sukumar, MD, OHSU Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Mailcode: L353, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR 97239 (Email: sukumarm@ohsu.edu).

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.


Figure 1
Dr Sukumar


Transcervical thymectomy has had a significant effect on the surgical treatment of patients with myasthenia gravis. It has decreased patient morbidity and increased patient satisfaction. The Cooper retractor (Pilling Company, Ft Washington, Pa) allows for visualization of the anterior mediastinum and makes the transcervical approach feasible.1Go However, this specialized retractor is difficult to obtain. We propose the use of the Rultract Skyhook retractor (Rultract, Inc, Independence, Ohio), which is versatile, economical, and as effective.

Technique

The Rultract Skyhook system (Figure 1) is traditionally used for internal thoracic artery dissection, redo sternotomies, and subxiphoid pericardial procedures. This system involves several parts that are critical . . . [Full Text of this Article]






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