title: The impact of the preoperative severity of target-vessel stenosis on the short-term patency of radial artery grafts.
abstract: The fate of a grafted radial artery remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the preoperative severity of stenosis of the target vessel influence short-term patency of radial artery (RA) grafts used as coronary artery bypass conduits. In 54 patients who had coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with RA grafts, RA patency was determined with multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) 1 year after CABG. These patients were divided into three groups on the basis of the percentage of the target vessel stenosis: mild (< 60%, n=17), moderate (60% to 79%, n=19), and severe (>/= 80%, n=18). MSCT was also performed 1 week later to exclude early occlusion of RA grafts. In 3 patients, the MSCT failed to adequately discriminate the status of the RA graft due to poor image resolution. The overall incidence of RA occlusion was 23.5% (12 of 51) at 1 year in the entire population. The mild stenosis, moderate stenosis and severe stenosis group showed an occlusion rate of 50% (8 of 16), 23.5% (4 of 17) and 0% (0 of 18), respectively. The severe stenosis group had significantly lower rate of RA graft occlusion compared to the mild stenosis group (p < 0.001) and moderate stenosis group (p < 0.05). No difference in occlusion between grafts used for the different coronary artery branches could be demonstrated. Preoperative severity of the target coronary artery significantly affected the short-term RA grafts patency. Correct indication is the key factor for short-term RA patency.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Division, Yonsei Cardiovascular Hospital and Research Institute, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 134 Shinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-752, Korea.
authors.forename: Boyoung
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Joung
authors.forename: Sungha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Donghoon
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Byoung-Wook
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Young-Guk
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Kyoung-Jong
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Yangsoo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Nam-Sik
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Seung-Yun
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D017534:Radial Artery / Q000637:transplantation*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014654:Vascular Patency