title: Radial artery grafting in women improves 15-year survival.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Radial artery (RA) grafting has a clear survival advantage after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in studies with predominantly male populations, but the impact on women's long-term survival is unclear. We sought to determine if the reported long-term survival benefit of RA versus saphenous vein (SV) grafting in the general CABG population is valid for women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 1995 and 2010, 1339 female patients were alive 30 days after primary, isolated CABG with left internal thoracic artery (LITA) and additional RA or SV conduits as needed. Patients were evaluated based on RA use: 332 patients had RA and 1007 patients had SV. Of these, 283 RA patients were matched to SV counterparts using a nonparsimonious propensity model based on 45 patient variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Kaplan-Meier estimated survivals for the matched RA women at 1, 5, 10, and 15 years were 99%, 93%, 80%, and 70% versus 97%, 87%, 72%, and 58% for the SV women (log rank, P = .018). For symptomatic patients, overall RA patency was 80%, which was not different from the LITA patency rate of 84% but was superior to the SV conduits patency rate of 56% (P < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In women undergoing CABG with LITA grafting, use of an RA graft improves survival compared with use of an SV graft.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiac Surgery, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY. Electronic address: kdimitrova2@chpnet.org.
authors.forename: Kamellia R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Dimitrova
authors.forename: Darryl M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.forename: Charles M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Geller
authors.forename: Wilson
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Lucido
authors.forename: Gabriela R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Dincheva
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Tranbaugh
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D057216:Propensity Score; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D017534:Radial Artery / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000637:transplantation*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000637:transplantation*; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014654:Vascular Patency
keywords: 23; 23.1; 23.1.1; 23.1.2; BITA; CABG; CI; HR; LITA; RA; SV; bilateral internal thoracic artery; confidence interval; coronary artery bypass grafting; hazard ratio; left internal thoracic artery; radial artery; saphenous vein