Pulmonary hypertension during beating heart coronary artery bypass grafting may compromise the possibility of safely completing the procedure off-pump. To obviate such a problem, we describe a simple technique by which the inferior vena cava is progressively snared to decrease pulmonary pressure. (Ann Thorac Surg 1999;68:1094-5) (C) 1999 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.