title: Echocardiographic evaluation of internal mammary artery graft patency.
abstract: The feasibility of using transthoracic echocardiography to assess internal mammary artery graft patency and function was examined. Coronary angiography and transthoracic echocardiography was performed in 60 consecutive patients undergoing coronary artery bypass from April 2000 to March 2002. Flow velocity, velocity-time integral, and the ratio of the diastolic fraction of the velocity-time integral to total velocity-time integral were measured by doppler transthoracic echocardiography. A stress test was carried out to detect coronary flow changes by echocardiography. The relationship between the coronary angiogram and the echocardiogram was analyzed. The overall graft patency rate was 98%. The mean diastolic velocity-time integral in patients with patent grafts was 0.64, and it increased up to 0.72 in response to physical stress. The occluded grafts showed diastolic velocity-time integral fractions of less than 0.60 in all grafts. There was a statistical correlation between patency > or = FitzGibbon grade B and diastolic velocity-time integral > 0.60. The diastolic velocity-time integral recorded by transthoracic echocardiography predicted the patency of internal mammary artery grafts. As echocardiography is noninvasive and accurate, it might be a useful method of verifying arterial graft patency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Nagoya Daini Red Cross Hospital, Nagoya, Japan. songmhmd@yahoo.co.jp
authors.forename: Min-Ho
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Mamoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Sachie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Toki
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Wataru
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Jinichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Iwase
authors.forename: Kazuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tajima
mesh_terms: D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D004452:Echocardiography; D006801:Humans; D007387:Internal Mammary-Coronary Artery Anastomosis; D008323:Mammary Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014654:Vascular Patency / Q000502:physiology*