title: The use of bovine internal mammary artery (Bioflow) grafts in coronary artery surgery.
abstract: Over a 3-year period 17 patients underwent a total of 25 coronary artery bypass grafts utilising bovine internal mammary artery [BIOFLOW]. Three patients died in the peri-operative or early post-operative period allowing detailed information to be gathered on 14 patients. Seven patients who had had a total of 11 Bioflow grafts implanted underwent post-operative coronary angiography at a mean time of 19 months after surgery revealing occlusion in all the Bioflow grafts. Two patients who underwent aortic valve replacement combined with single Bioflow grafts were symptom-free and refused re-study. Two patients who had three coronary grafts each, including single Bioflow grafts, refused re-study though one of them had recurrent anginal symptoms. Two patients, one with recurrent anginal symptoms, who had a total of four Bioflow grafts were considered unfit for restudy on medical (non-cardiac) grounds. One patient with two Bioflow grafts and recurrent symptoms refused long-term follow-up. Despite reports of good early patency rates with the Bioflow graft, we have not found this to be the case even when patients were anticoagulated post-operatively. We do not recommend the use of this graft as early occlusion is to be expected, which may result in an early return of anginal symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001705:Bioprosthesis; D002417:Cattle; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008323:Mammary Arteries / Q000637:transplantation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D014654:Vascular Patency