title: The vasa vasorum and associated endothelial nitric oxide synthase is more important for saphenous vein than arterial bypass grafts.
abstract: No-touch (NT) saphenous vein (SV) grafts are superior to SVs harvested by the conventional technique (CT), with a patency comparable with the internal thoracic artery (ITA). Preservation of the vasa vasorum is implicated in the success of NT harvesting. We compared the vasa vasorum and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in NT SV with ITA and radial artery (RA) grafts. Skeletonized SV (SSV) was also analyzed. The NT SV had a higher number and larger vasa vasorum compared with ITA (P = .0001) and RA (P = .0004) that correlated with eNOS protein. Activity of eNOS in SSV grafts was significantly lower than NT SV grafts (P = 004). Since a high proportion of the vasa vasorum are removed in SSV using the CT, we suggest that preservation of the vasa vasorum and eNOS-derived NO contributes to the high patency for NT as compared with SSV grafts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Örebro University Hospital, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dreifaldt
authors.forename: Domingos
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: Lennart
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bodin
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi-Wen
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dooley
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Muddle
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Loesch
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Dashwood
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000201:enzymology / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008323:Mammary Arteries / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000637:transplantation; D008875:Middle Aged; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III / Q000378:metabolism*; D017534:Radial Artery / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000637:transplantation; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000637:transplantation; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D014651:Vasa Vasorum / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000637:transplantation; D014654:Vascular Patency
chemical_list: D009569:Nitric Oxide; C496314:NOS3 protein, human; D052250:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type III