Evaluation of early coronary graft patency after coronary artery bypass graft surgery using multislice computed tomography angiography

• Main Authors: Raissi Kamal, Givtaj Nader, Abdi Seifollah, Motevali Marzieh, Noohi Fereidoun, Salari Farzad, Bassri Hosseinali, Haghjoo Majid
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2009-12-01
• Series: BMC Cardiovascular Disorders
• Online Access: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2261/9/53

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is the standard of care in the treatment of advanced coronary artery disease, and its long-term results are affected by the failure of bypass grafts. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the early patency rate in coronary bypass grafts.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 107 consecutive patients who underwent CABG were included in this study. Early graft patency was evaluated via computed tomography (CT) angiography in the first week after surgery.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were a total of 366 grafts, comprised of 250 venous grafts and 116 arterial grafts. Multi-slice CT detected acute graft occlusions in 32 (8.7%) of all the grafts, including 26 (10%) of the 250 venous grafts and 6 (5%) of the 116 arterial grafts. The patency rates obtained were 97.3% for the left internal mammary (IMA) grafts, 50% for the radial artery grafts, and 50% for the right IMA grafts. Additionally, 107 (96.4%) grafts to the left anterior descending artery (LAD) were classified as patent, whereas 1 (30%) of the 3 grafts in the left circumflex (LCX) region and 1 (50%) of the 2 grafts in the right coronary artery (RCA) territory were found to be occluded. In the venous category, 8 (13.7%) of the 58 grafts to LAD were found to be occluded. In the LCX region, 9 (8.5%) of the 106 grafts were classified as occluded, while the remaining 97 (91.5%) grafts were patent. The venous grafts to RCA were occluded in 9 (10.4%) of the 86 grafts. Amongst the multiple preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative factors, pump time was significantly longer in the patients with occluded grafts than in those with patent grafts (P = 0.04).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The IMA grafts had the highest early patency rate amongst the coronary bypass grafts. However, the other arterial grafts were associated with a high rate of acute occlusions.</p>