Midterm clinical and angiographic results of radial artery grafts used for myocardial revascularization

Abstract

The midterm angiographic results of radial artery grafts used for myocardial revascularization are excellent. The correct surgical indication is essential. Continued therapy with calcium-channel antagonists after the first year does not influence the midterm angiographic results.

Radial Artery Bypass Grafts Have an Increased Occurrence of Angiographically Severe Stenosis and Occlusion Compared With Left Internal Mammary Arteries and Saphenous Vein Grafts

“…14 In the other, 61 patients with 62 radial grafts were studied, which yielded an 87% patency rate. 15 Superficially, these reports contradict the present findings; however, these and other long-term angiographic studies largely consisted of patients without symptoms or evidence of myocardial ischemia. 11,12,14,15 Among the 14 symptomatic patients in the first study and 15 patients in the second study, the patency rates were considerably lower: 64% and 73%, respectively.…”

“…15 Superficially, these reports contradict the present findings; however, these and other long-term angiographic studies largely consisted of patients without symptoms or evidence of myocardial ischemia. 11,12,14,15 Among the 14 symptomatic patients in the first study and 15 patients in the second study, the patency rates were considerably lower: 64% and 73%, respectively. In addition, a recent larger study of 109 patients who underwent cardiac catheterization for symptoms of ischemia showed an overall patency rate of the radial artery graft of only 75.1% at a mean follow-up of 2.3 years.…”

Radial artery as a conduit for diabetic crural bypass

“…It is a more muscular artery than the internal mammary, so spasm and compromised perfusion of the vessel wall may be greater after harvesting. However, a superior patency record has been described in cardiac patients, including a recent study that demonstrated an increase in vessel diameter with time, providing strong evidence against the development of significant intimal hyperplasia 5 . The present data compared favourably with those from cardiac studies and, although 2-year patency rates are awaited, early results justify further investigation.…”

<![CDATA[<B>Radial artery versus saphenous vein to myocardial revascularization</B>: <B>meta-analysis (there is no statistically significant difference)</B>]]>

“…Initially described in 1973 by Carpentier et al [15], the use of the RA was abandoned soon after due to its susceptibility to spasms and functional occlusion [16,27]. However, with the advent of drugs that prevent spasms and the adoption of better dissection techniques, interest for the RA as an additional arterial conduit was revitalized in the 1990s [18].…”

“…Many institutions have reported that the RA can be used with acceptable mortality and morbidity rates and that the angiographical results are similar to those of the ITA [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. On the other hand, some published data present limitations related to the long-term angiographical results of these grafts.…”