fig3

Figure 3. Pitfall around the left inferior pulmonary vein. The pericardium was initially exposed, and the surgical plane was extended. The extension of this plane to the bilateral side in advance (red arrows) may separate the ventral side of the left inferior pulmonary vein (blue arrows and circle) (A, B); to avoid misorientation, it was important to initially extend the plane along the long axis of esophagus (red arrows) (C, D). By extending the plane to the bilateral side (blue arrows), the dorsal side of the inferior pulmonary vein was certainly identified