ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Coronary artery bypass grafting(CABG) has been established as an effective treatment modality in improving the symptoms of ischemic heart disease as well as in preventing sudden death. Since the relatively wide use of arterial grafting in the 80's, an improvement in long term patency rates compared with saphenous vein grafting has been suggested. We have been using multiple arterial grafts since 1998, and we attempted to compare our early results with those of saphenous vein grafting. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Out of the 355 patients that received CABG at our center between June,1998 and May,1999, 153 patients that used cardioplegia were reviewed. 76 had received single arterial graft(Group I) and 77 had received more than 2 arterial grafts(Group II). Preoperative clinical data, ecohocardiography, and angiographic studies were analyzed retrospectively. RESULT: Preoperatively, there were statistically significant differences between Group I and Group II with respect to age and smoking history. There was one early postoperative mortality in each group. The number of anastomoses constructed per patient showed a statistical difference. There were no other differences in operative and postoperative results. CONCLUSION: Even in our learning period, there was no difference in our early results between arterial grafting and saphenous vein grafting. These early results suggest that arterial grafting may afford patients as improving in late survival. Futhermore, these results suggest that complete arterial revasularization may serve to prolong life expectancy.