Coronary endarterectomy revisited: mid-term angiographic results.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the value of concomitant coronary endarterectomy (CE) in the modern era of coronary revascularization.


METHODS
Retrospective study. Twenty-eight patients (five women; 23 men) who underwent coronary endarterectomy were angiographically studied 24 +/- 22 months after the procedure. Necessity CE (vessel completely occluded or with lumen less than 1 mm) was performed on the left anterior descending (LAD) artery in 12 patients, the right coronary artery (RCA) in nine, the obtuse marginal artery (OM) in five and a diagonal branch in two patients. Conduits used for revascularization were the internal thoracic artery (ITA) in 11 (all anastomosed to the LAD; combined with saphenous vein patch in four) and a saphenous vein graft in 17 patients. Mean atherosclerotic core length was 3.3 +/- 1.8 cm. An average of 3.1 +/- 0.7 distal anastomoses per patient were constructed, with mean aortic cross-clamp and cardiopulmonary bypass times of 61.2 +/- 20.2 mins and 94.0 +/- 23.5 mins, respectively.


RESULTS
Overall, angiographic patency rate was 71% (20 of 28) for the endarterectomized vessels (12 of 12 LAD, six of nine RCA, two of five OM and none of two diagonal arteries) and 93% (57 of 61) for the nonendarterectomized vessels. Among the eight patients with occluded CE vessels, two sustained a perioperative myocardial infarction, five developed angina during follow-up, and one patient remained asymptomatic.


CONCLUSIONS
Necessity CE demonstrates acceptable mid-term patency. In addition, this study showed excellent patency following CE of the LAD revascularized with the ITA, with or without only a saphenous vein patch.
Dagenais
F
F
Department of Surgery, Montreal Heart Institute, University of Montreal, Quebec.
Cartier
R
R
Farinas
J M
JM
Leclerc
Y
Y
Hudon
G
G
D000368:Aged; D000790:Angiocardiography; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D004691:Endarterectomy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome