Midterm results of routine bilateral internal thoracic artery grafting.
BACKGROUND
Skeletonized dissection of the internal thoracic artery (ITA) decreases the occurrence of sternal devascularization, thus decreasing the risk of postoperative sternal complications in patients undergoing bilateral ITA grafting.


METHODS
From April 1996 to July 1999, 1000 consecutive patients underwent bilateral skeletonized ITA grafting. Of the 770 male and 230 female patients, 420 were older than 70 years, and 312 had diabetes.


RESULTS
Operative mortality was 3.3%. Follow-up (40-78 months) revealed 79 late deaths, and the Kaplan-Meier 6-year survival rate was 88%. Cox regression analysis revealed increased overall mortality (early and late) in patients with preoperative congestive heart failure (risk ratio [RR], 2.13; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31-3.45), in patients with peripheral vascular disease (RR, 5.52; 95% CI, 3.31-9.19), and in patients older than 70 years (RR, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.37-3.47). Early postoperative morbidity included sternal infection (2.2%), cerebrovascular accident (1.6%), and perioperative myocardial infarction (1%). Multiple regression analysis showed repeat operation (odds ratio [OR], 7.5; 95% CI, 1.77-31.6) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR, 3.6; 95% CI, 1.27-10.75) to be independent predictors of sternal infection. During follow-up, angina returned in 95 patients, 24 of whom required reintervention (20 cases of percutaneous balloon angioplasty and 4 reoperations). Postoperative coronary angiography performed in 87 patients revealed an ITA patency rate of 91%.


CONCLUSIONS
Bilateral skeletonized ITA grafting is associated with satisfactory early and midterm results. We do not recommend the use of this surgical technique in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Kramer
A
A
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Mohr
R
R
Lev-Ran
O
O
Braunstein
R
R
Pevni
D
D
Locker
C
C
Uretzky
G
G
Shapira
I
I
D000368:Aged; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007387:Internal Mammary-Coronary Artery Anastomosis / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome