title: Radial artery as graft for coronary artery bypass surgery: Advantages and disadvantages for its usage focused on structural and biological characteristics.
abstract: Radial artery (RA) is the most popular arterial graft after the left internal thoracic artery in both low- and high-risk patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting. Various arterial grafts such as the right internal thoracic artery, the right gastroepiploic artery, and the inferior epigastric artery have also gained ground over the past 30 years because of the intimal hyperplasia and atherosclerosis of the saphenous vein leading to late graft occlusion. In this review article we would like to present the utility of the RA as a graft, focused mainly on its structural and biological characteristics.
authors: Cardiac Surgery Department, Institut Mutualiste Montsouris, Paris, France. Electronic address: nikolaos.baikoussis@gmail.com.
authors: Nikolaos G
authors: NG
authors: Baikoussis
authors: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Ioannina University Hospital, School of Medicine, Ioannina, Greece.
authors: Nikolaos A
authors: NA
authors: Papakonstantinou
authors: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Ioannina University Hospital, School of Medicine, Ioannina, Greece.
authors: Efstratios
authors: E
authors: Apostolakis
mesh_terms: D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods*; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D017534:Radial Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000637:transplantation*; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D014654:Vascular Patency
keywords: Arterial revascularization; Coronary artery bypass graft; Coronary artery disease; Radial artery