title: Internal thoracic artery for coronary artery grafting in octogenarians.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Use of the left internal thoracic artery as a bypass graft has been shown to result in better long-term patency and improved survival. In elderly patients, the internal thoracic artery has been used less often for coronary artery bypass grafts because of the belief that greater morbidity and mortality are associated with this procedure. This study was undertaken to test this premise in the octogenarian population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Over an 8-year period, 474 consecutive patients 80 years of age and greater had coronary artery bypass grafting. The left internal thoracic artery was used in 188 patients (39.7%) (group 1) and saphenous vein grafts only (group 2), in 286 (60.3%). The mean age was 82.6 years (range, 80 to 95 years). There were 312 men (65.8%) and 162 women (34.2%).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Use of the internal thoracic artery as a graft has risen steadily each year, as has the number of patients who are octogenarians. The hospital mortality rate was 7.8%. Patients in group 1 had a mortality rate of 9.0% and patients in group 2, a mortality rate of 7.0%. The mortality rate among survivors at 1 year was 6.7%. Long-term survival was significantly greater in group 1.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  On the basis of this study, we conclude that the internal thoracic artery is the bypass graft of choice, especially in regard to long-term mortality, and should not be denied to this high-risk group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Hahnemann University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102, USA.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Strong
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Grunewald
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kuretu
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Samuels
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kresh
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Brockman
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D009017:Morbidity; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000637:transplantation; D015996:Survival Rate; D013895:Thoracic Arteries / Q000637:transplantation*; D013997:Time Factors