title: Decreased patency rates following endoscopic  vein harvest in coronary artery bypass surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Endoscopic vein harvest has gained widespread use in coronary artery bypass surgery. However, potential negative mid- and long-term effects following endoscopic vein harvest have been described. We aimed to compare long-term clinical outcomes following endoscopic and open vein graft harvesting.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was a clinical follow-up with additional computed tomographic coronary angiography among 126 first-time bypass patients originally included in a randomized study comparing early leg wound complications and cosmetic results. Deceased patients were retrospectively followed up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Follow-up was complete, but information on clinical endpoints was not available in all patients. A total of 111 patients were alive at follow-up. Median observation time was 6.3 (range: 0.2–9.1) years including three in-hospital deaths. Vein graft failure was significantly higher in the endoscopic vein harvest (EVH) group (13 of 31; 42%) compared with the open vein harvest (OVH) group (2 of 32, 6%) (P = 0.001). However, this difference was not reflected by differences in recurrence of angina (P = 0.44), myocardial infarction (P = 0.11), and all-cause mortality (P = 0.15).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using a median follow-up time of 6.3 years significantly more vein graft failures were identified following EVH compared with OVH without any differences in long-term clinical outcomes.
authors.forename: Jan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Andreasen
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vadmann
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Oddershede
authors.forename: Hans-Henrik
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Tilsted
authors.forename: Jens B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Frøkjær
authors.forename: Svend E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Jensen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000453:epidemiology; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000401:mortality; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000637:transplantation*; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000379:methods*; D014654:Vascular Patency