title: Early and mid-term outcome of anastomosis of gastroepiploic artery to left coronary artery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The performance of a bypass made to the left coronary artery using the gastroepiploic artery was examined.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-nine cases of bypass operation in which the gastroepiploic artery had been anastomosed to the left coronary artery at least 3 years prior were examined. All cases were performed by the same surgeon during the period from April 1989 to April 2000. Performance immediately after the operation and performance at least 3 years after the operation were examined on the basis of graft patency rate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Graft patency rates in cases with an anastomosis to the left anterior descending coronary artery and cases with an anastomosis to the circumflex artery were favorable immediately after the operation, at 96.0% (24 of 25) and 100% (18 of 18), respectively. However, over the mid-term, the patency rate dropped to 58.8% (10 of 17) in cases with an anastomosis to the left anterior descending artery, and two cases of cardiogenic sudden deaths occurred during the course of follow-up. The graft patency rate in cases with an anastomosis to the circumflex artery, on the other hand, remained favorable, at 93.3% (14 of 15). In a sequential bypass grafting through the right coronary artery, the graft between the left anterior descending coronary artery and the right coronary artery was closed, and the graft patency rate between the right coronary artery and the circumflex artery was 71.4% (10 of 14).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The mid-term patency rate was poor for cases in which the gastroepiploic artery had been anastomosed to the left anterior descending coronary artery, which suggests that the procedure should be avoided. On the other hand, the patency rate was relatively favorable when the gastroepiploic artery had been anastomosed to the circumflex artery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Aomori Rousai Hospital, Hachinohe, Japan. takaken@r66.7-dj.com
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Daitoku
authors.forename: Sei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Oikawa
authors.forename: Masahito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minakawa
authors.forename: Norihiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kondo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D024405:Gastroepiploic Artery / Q000637:transplantation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014654:Vascular Patency