1. Sternal Nourishment in Various Conditions of Vascularization
Alexander A. Fokin, MD, PhD, Francis Robicsek, MD, PhD, Thomas N. Masters, PhD, Alex Fokin, BS, Mark K. Reames, MD, James E. Anderson, MD 
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery 
Volume 79, Issue 4, Pages (April 2005)
DOI: /j.athoracsur
Copyright © 2005 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions

2. Fig 1
Radioactivity of the sternal halves after unilateral mammary artery harvesting using skeletonized (group 1) and semiskeletonized (group 2) methods and intravenous injection of 99mTc microparticles. *The value of radioactivity on the control side was statistically significantly higher in comparison with the experimental side in each group. (CPM = counts per minute.)
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /j.athoracsur )
Copyright © 2005 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions

3. Fig 2
Radioactivity of sternal segments (mean CPM/g) after midline sternotomy and intravenous injection of 99mTc microparticles. Control versus experimental side. (A) Mammary artery harvested on the experimental side (group 1). (B) Mammary artery and vein harvested on the experimental side (group 2). (e = exponent.)
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /j.athoracsur )
Copyright © 2005 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions

4. Fig 3
Radioactivity of the sternal halves after bilateral mammary artery harvesting and unilateral intramuscular injection of 99mTc microparticles (group 3). (CPM = counts per minute.)
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /j.athoracsur )
Copyright © 2005 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions

5. Fig 4
Thermographic images of sternal halves. Temperature scale is on the right. Lines drawn along sternal halves were used for temperature calculations. (A) Both sternal halves exhibit similar temperatures with the xiphoid being the coolest sternal segment. (B) Five hours after midline sternotomy and mammary artery harvesting. Lower temperature of the experimental sternal half as compared to the control sternal half.
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /j.athoracsur )
Copyright © 2005 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions

6. Fig 5
Example of a graph showing temperature along the length of the sternum. (A) Baseline control (○) and experimental (•) temperatures are similar. (B) Five hours after mammary artery harvesting, temperature of the sternal half on the experimental side (▴) is substantially lower in comparison to the control (▵).
The Annals of Thoracic Surgery  , DOI: ( /j.athoracsur )
Copyright © 2005 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Terms and Conditions