title: Long-term patency of saphenous vein and left internal mammary artery grafts after coronary artery bypass surgery: results from a Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study defined long-term patency of saphenous vein grafts (SVG) and internal mammary artery (IMA) grafts.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  This VA Cooperative Studies Trial defined 10-year SVG patency in 1,074 patients and left IMA patency in 457 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients underwent cardiac catheterizations at 1 week and 1, 3, 6, and 10 years after CABG.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patency at 10 years was 61% for SVGs compared with 85% for IMA grafts (p < 0.001). If a SVG or IMA graft was patent at 1 week, that graft had a 68% and 88% chance, respectively, of being patent at 10 years. The SVG patency to the left anterior descending artery (LAD) (69%) was better (p < 0.001) than to the right coronary artery (56%), or circumflex (58%). Recipient vessel size was a significant predictor of graft patency, in vessels >2.0 mm in diameter SVG patency was 88% versus 55% in vessels </=2.0 mm (p < 0.001). Other positive significant predictors of graft patency were use of aspirin after bypass, older age, lower serum cholesterol, and lowest Canadian Functional Class (p < 0.001 to 0.058).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The 10-year patency of IMA grafts is better than SVGs. The 10-year patency for SVGs is better and the 10-year patency for IMA grafts is worse than expected. The 10-year patency of SVGs to the LAD is better than that to the right or circumflex. The best long-term predictors of SVG graft patency are grafting into the LAD and grafting into a vessel that is >2.0 mm in diameter.
authors.affiliation: Southern Arizona VA Health Care System and the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA. steven.goldman@med.va.gov
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zadina
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moritz
authors.forename: Theron
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ovitt
authors.forename: Gulshan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sethi
authors.forename: Jack G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Copeland
authors.forename: Lizy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thottapurathu
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Krasnicka
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Henderson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D023903:Coronary Restenosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007387:Internal Mammary-Coronary Artery Anastomosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000637:transplantation; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014654:Vascular Patency; D014728:Veterans