title: Role of radial artery graft in coronary artery bypass grafting.
abstract: The use of the radial artery (RA) as a coronary artery bypass graft has assumed a revival and thus a multitude of issues have arisen surrounding the routine and widespread use of this conduit in myocardial revascularization. There has been no uniformity regarding harvest techniques, assessment of the adequacy of hand collateral circulation, antispasm protocols, selection of target vessels, and the site of proximal anastomosis. It is widely believed and practiced that the RA should be harvested as a pedicle graft and preferably be used to bypass critically stenosed (>70% stenosis) coronary arteries. It is used either as a free graft with proximal anastomosis to the ascending aorta or as a composite arterial graft along with the left or right internal thoracic artery. The patency of RA grafts depends on the severity of the target coronary artery stenosis and target artery location rather than its use as an aortocoronary conduit or composite graft. In this article, we reviewed the current knowledge regarding the use of RA grafts as a coronary bypass conduit in an attempt to suggest a few acceptable strategies concerning the above issues in a given clinical scenario.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Care Hospital, The Institute of Medical Sciences, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad, India. sajjal4@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Lokeswara Rao
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Sajja
authors.forename: Gopichand
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mannam
authors.forename: Narasinga Rao
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Pantula
authors.forename: Sriramulu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sompalli
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D000075202:Contraindications; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods*; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000601:surgery; D005542:Forearm / Q000098:blood supply; D006801:Humans; D017534:Radial Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology / Q000601:surgery / Q000637:transplantation*; D013035:Spasm / Q000209:etiology; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000379:methods