title: Intraoperative assessment of coronary bypass graft to posterior descending artery by means of transesophageal echocardiography.
abstract: Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) assessment of coronary artery graft anastomosed to posterior descending artery (PDA) was evaluated. Twenty-one patients with a saphenous vein (SV) graft (n=17) or right gastroepiploic artery (RGEA) graft (n=4) anastomosed to the PDA were examined. In the transgastric mid short-axis view, the graft was depicted as an echo-free zone between the right ventricle and diaphragm. The depth, diameter, angle for Doppler measurement, and angle-corrected blood flow velocity were determined. The graft was visualized in 20 cases (95.2%). The diameter of the SV graft was 3.0-6.5 mm (mean 4.0 mm), while that of RGEA graft was 2.2-2.9 mm (mean 2.5 mm), at the depth of 1.2-4.4 cm (mean 2.4 mm) with incident angle of 14-57 degrees (mean 38.6 degrees ). Blood flow was detected in 17 cases but was difficult to detect in three cases (velocity <10 cm/s). Postoperative coronary angiography showed patent graft in 16 of former cases (one case of operative death excluded) but occluded graft in all of latter cases. Intraoperative TEE assessment was feasible nearly consistently. Diastolic blood flow velocity <10 cm/s suggests an early occlusion of the graft.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Hiroshima University Hospital, Kasumi 1-2-3, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551 Japan. orichan@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kazumasa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Orihashi
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Katsuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurosaki
authors.forename: Taiichi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takasaki
authors.forename: Shinya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Kiyohiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morifuji
authors.forename: Taijiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sueda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects; D003326:Coronary Circulation; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D024405:Gastroepiploic Artery / Q000637:transplantation; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007430:Intraoperative Care; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000637:transplantation; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional; D014654:Vascular Patency