The treatment and prognosis of silent pulmonary embolism after off-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery / 中华胸心血管外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective The purpose of this study was to assess the incidence,treatment and prognosis of silent pulmonary embolism (PE) after off-pump coronary artery bypass graft (CABG).Methods From December 2009 to September 2012,582 consecutive patients underwent off-pump CABG by a same surgeon.Their age ranged from 16 to 86 years with a mean age of (61.4 ± 9.3) years.Left internal mammary artery and saphenous vein were harvested routinely.A dose of 20 mg unfractionated heparin was given intravenously every 6 hours on the operative day after postoperative pleural fluid less than 50 ml per hour.All patients received aspirin 100 mg daily starting on postoperative day 1.The 64-slice coronary MDCT was performed to assess the graft patency on postoperative day 5 ～ 7.Results There were no in-hospital death.PE,which involved the lobar or more proximal arteries,was detected on the CT images of 10 patients (1.7％).In these 10 patients,there were no significant dyspnea or hypoxemia postoperatively ; echocardiography and ECG showed no specific signs of PE ; all bypass grafts were patent in CT images except a LIMA to LAD graft with LAD endarterectomy.PE involved both lungs in 6 patients,and only the right lung in 4 patients.All patients received anticoagulation with warfarin for 3 to 6 months except one.All patients were with good quality of life during 6 to 18 months of follow-up.Three to six months after discharge,8 patients received repeated MDCT,which showed diminish of PE.Conclusion Acute PE after off-pump CABG was an uncommon complication and was difficult to diagnose.MDCT played an important role in examining the patency of graft vessels and helped detect silent PE in CABG patients.The prognosis of acute PE after off-pump CABG was acceptable.PE diminished after 3 months of anticoagulation with warfarin.