Endothelial integrity of radial artery grafts harvested by minimally invasive surgery--immunohistochemical studies of CD31 and endothelial nitric oxide synthase expressions: a randomized controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the endothelial integrity of radial artery grafts harvested by minimally invasive surgery and arteries harvested conventionally for coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) in 200 participants, who were assigned to interventions by using random allocation.


METHODS
An immunohistochemical procedure with monoclonal antibodies was employed to estimate CD31 antigen and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) expressions - markers defining endothelial integrity.


RESULTS
The CD31 immunostaining revealed that the endothelial cell integrity of the minimally invasive harvested arteries was preserved in 76.1±7.4% of the circumference of luminal endothelium, which was similar to results obtained in conventionally harvested grafts (77.2±9.8%; not significant). On the other hand, eNOS immunostaining indicated that the endothelial integrity of the minimally invasive harvested grafts was preserved in 75.4±10.5% while in conventionally harvested grafts it was reduced to 42.4±14.5% of the total luminal endothelium circumference (P<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The endothelial integrity of radial artery grafts harvested by minimally invasive surgery is better preserved than in the grafts obtained by the conventional manner. This could play an important role in improving graft patency and might represent a preliminary condition of stable functioning in coronary arterial bypasses.
Nowicki
Michal
M
Regional Specialized Hospital in Wroclaw, Research and Development Centre, Wroclaw, Poland. mnowicki@ump.edu.pl
Misterski
Marcin
M
Malinska
Agnieszka
A
Perek
Bartlomiej
B
Ostalska-Nowicka
Danuta
D
Jemielity
Marek
M
Witkiewicz
Wojciech
W
Zabel
Maciej
M
D000368:Aged; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000378:metabolism / Q000637:transplantation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures; D009131:Muscle, Smooth, Vascular / Q000378:metabolism; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III / Q000378:metabolism*; D019408:Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017534:Radial Artery / Q000378:metabolism / Q000637:transplantation*; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000378:metabolism / Q000637:transplantation; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D019408:Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III