Late results of coronary revascularization with saphenous vein and internal thoracic artery grafts

Objective. To evaluate the patency of saphenous vein and internal thoracic artery grafts by coronary system using angiographies performed in symptomatic patients after coronary artery bypass grafting.
Material and methods. From 1999 to 2006, 685 patients (mean age, 59.1±11.8 years) had angiography of 538 internal thoracic and gastroepiploic artery and 1644 saphenous vein grafts. There were 580 (84.7%) males. The mean period from operation to the performance of reangiogram was 73.3±53.5 months. Graft failure was defined as >95% stenosis. The saphenous vein was grafted to the left anterior descending artery in 106 (6.4%), to the diagonal artery in 364 (22.1%), to the obtuse marginal artery in 629 (38.3%), and to the right coronary artery in 545 (33.1%) cases.
Results. During the study, 1496 (68.97%) grafts were patent, and 686 (31.0%) had failed. Unadjusted 1-, 5-, 10-, and >10-year patency was 91.0%, 89.9%, 90.1%, and 75% for internal thoracic arteries and 79.9%, 68.6%, 57.4%, and 51.0% for saphenous veins, respectively.
Conclusions. Internal thoracic arteries demonstrate better patency than saphenous veins except when grafting moderately stenosed coronary arteries. When bypassing coronary arteries with less than 70% stenosis, saphenous veins may be a better choice.