title: Flowmetry of left internal thoracic artery graft to left anterior descending artery: comparison between on-pump and off-pump surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Off-pump coronary bypass grafting (OPCAB) has become a widely used technique. Coronary flowmetry is the most common method employed to assess graft patency, nevertheless, few studies compare flow patterns between ONCAB and OPCAB surgery. The objective of this study was to compare flowmetry data in left internal mammary artery grafts bypasses to the left anterior descendent artery.
  
  
  METHODS
  From March to September of 2010, thirtyfive consecutive, non-randomized patients underwent CABG and were retrospectively evaluated. Ten patients were located on group A (On Pump), and twenty-five on group B (Off Pump). The mean graft flow (MGF), pulsatile index (PI) and diastolic filling (DF) were obtained using Transit Time Flowmetry (TTFM). The Fisher exact test, and Mann Whitney test were used, and a P value of < 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no deaths, AMI, re-interventions or PTCA in a 30-day period. The number of bypasses performed per patient was 2.3 ± 0.8 in the OPCAB group, and 2.2 ± 0.6 in the ONCAB group, with no significant difference (P=0.10). The median of mean flow was 23 ml/min on group A, and 25 ml/min on group B (P=0.34). Diastolic filling percentage was 56% on group A, and 56.9% on group B (P=0.86). Pulsatile Index was 2.3 on group A, and 2.2 on group B (P=0.82).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was no difference between TTFM values (MF, PI and DF) in patients operated with or without cardiopulmonary bypass.
authors.affiliation: SBCCV, Salvador, BA, Brasil. filintomc@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Filinto Marques de
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Cerqueira Neto
authors.forename: Marco Antonio Vieira
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Guedes
authors.forename: Leonardo Eugênio Fonseca
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Gustavo Santiago
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: André Raimundo F
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.forename: Mauricio Alves
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Barreto
authors.forename: Emerson Costa
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Porto
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rabelo Júnior
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods*; D047549:Coronary Artery Bypass, Off-Pump / Q000379:methods; D005112:Extracorporeal Circulation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008323:Mammary Arteries / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011673:Pulsatile Flow; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors