Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is one of the most commonly performed surgi-cal procedures. In the most recent survey of the National Center for Health Statis-tics, approximately 466,000 CABG pro-cedures were performed in 2005 at an initial hospital cost of approximately $14 billion.1-2 According to the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines, CABG surgery is the standard of care in the treatment of advanced coronary artery disease. Rec-ommended indications include signifi-cant left main coronary artery stenosis, stenosis >70% in the proximal left ante-rior descending (LAD) and proximal left circumflex artery, and 3-vessel coronary artery disease.3 The ultimate goal of CABG is to relieve symptoms and pro-long life.