CARDIOTHORACIC SYSTEMS

CardioThoracic Systems designs, develops, and manufactures surgical products and systems for minimally invasive cardiac surgery. The Company's current products are designed to enable the majority of cardiothoracic surgeons, using their existing skills coupled with company-sponsored training, to perform MICS on a beating heart. The OPCAB (Off Pump Coronary Artery Bypass) and MIDCAB (Minimally Invasive Direct Coronary Artery Bypass) procedures eliminate the need for a heart-lung machine, and recen... t studies indicate that the MICS procedures reduce the trauma, procedural costs and post-surgical complications associated with conventional coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery while providing long-term procedural success rates comparable to CABG surgery. CardioThoracic Systems was founded in 1994 and is based in Cupertino, California. As of November 15, 1999, CardioThoracic Systems, Inc. was acquired by Guidant Corp.More