In-hospital outcomes of endarterectomy and coronary artery bypass grafting in multiple diffuse lesions of coronary arteries

Abstract

According to a series of studies, performing coronary endarterectomy in direct myocardial revascularization increases the risk of myocardial infarction and in-hospital mortality. There are no commonly accepted indications for carrying out endarterectomy, and in clinical practice this technique is used in severe diffuse lesions of coronary arteries. The study was aimed at assessing in-hospital clinical outcomes of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with the use of endarterectomy in patients with severe multiple diffuse lesions of coronary arteries. This was a single-centre retrospective study enrolling a total of 205 patients presenting with multiple diffuse lesions and subjected to CABG procedures. Of these, after excluding those with severe concomitant pathology (n=28), 177 were enrolled and divided into 2 groups: 76 patients during formation of a coronary anastomosis were subjected to forced endarterectomy from the native channel (Group 1, n=76) and the remaining patients to prolonged anastomosis and/or bypass grafting of distal branches of the diffusely damaged artery (Group 2, n=101). In-hospital outcomes were analysed in both groups. The demographic and clinical characteristics were comparable by all parameters except for age: Group 1 patients were older (66.3±8.4 vs 63.0±8.5, p<0.05). The groups were comparable by severity of coronary lesions by both the SYNTAX Score and diffuse lesion index. The incidence of perioperative myocardial infarction during coronary endarterectomy (Group 1) amounted to 9.2% (7/71) and in the group without endarterectomy (Group 2) to 0. There were no cases of in-hospital mortality in either group. In severe diffuse coronary lesions, endarterectomy combined with CABG makes it possible to perform adequate myocardial revascularization. Performing endarterectomy from coronary arteries is associated with an increased risk for the development of myocardial infarction, but its use is justified if it is impossible to create an anastomosis by means of other techniques.