HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:
Guest Access | Sign In via User Name/Password

This Article Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Personal Article Archive Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Beghi, C. Articles by Gherli, T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Beghi, C. Articles by Gherli, T.

Midterm Clinical Results in Myocardial Revascularization Using the Radial Artery*

Cardiac Surgery Department, University of Parma, Parma, Italy.

Correspondence to: Francesco Nicolini, MD, Divisione e Cattedra di Cardiochirurgia, Università degli Studi, Via A. Gramsci, 14, 43100 Parma, Italy; e-mail: francesco.nicolini{at}unipr.it

Study objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the immediate and midterm results of coronary artery bypass grafting with the radial artery (RA) as a conduit.

Patients: Two hundred forty-one patients underwent myocardial revascularization using the RA. In 78.5% of patients, three coronary vessels were involved, and in 25% of patients, the left main coronary artery was involved. The mean (± SD) preoperative ejection fraction was 58 ± 13%.

Interventions: The RA was implanted on branches of the circumflex artery in 81% of the cases, and the left internal mammary artery was implanted on the left anterior descending artery in 94% of patients. Total arterial myocardial revascularization was performed in 58% of patients.

Measurements and results: The in-hospital mortality rate was 0.8%. Two patients had acute myocardial infarction, and three patients experienced a transient low-cardiac output syndrome. We reviewed the records of all 171 patients who had undergone at least 6 months of follow-up after surgery. The late mortality rate in this group was 0.6% (one patient died 2 months after surgery because of cardiocirculatory arrest due to untreatable ventricular fibrillation). At a mean follow-up time of 545 ± 253 days, two patients showed class 3 residual angina according to the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) guidelines. One patient required another hospital admission 6 months after undergoing surgery for PTCA/stenting on a circumflex artery that had not previously undergone bypass. The second patient, 8 months after undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, underwent angiography and stenting on a stenosed anastomosis of a posterolateral branch of the circumflex artery that previously had been bypassed with the right internal mammary artery.

Conclusions: The routine use of the RA for coronary bypass grafting is a safe surgical technique, providing excellent clinical mid-term results in terms of cardiac event-free expectancy.

Key Words: cardiac surgery • myocardial revascularization • radial artery

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. S. Lawton, H. B. Barner, M. S. Bailey, T. J. Guthrie, N. Moazami, M. K. Pasque, M. R. Moon, and R. J. Damiano Jr Radial Artery Grafts in Women: Utilization and Results Ann. Thorac. Surg., August 1, 2005; 80(2): 559 - 563. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]