Safety and Efficacy of Sequential Left Internal Thoracic Artery Grafting to Left Circumflex Area

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This study investigated short-term and long-term results of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with in situ sequential left internal thoracic artery (LITA) grafting to the left circumflex area. The study divided 452 patients who underwent CABG with bilateral ITA grafting to the left coronary artery into two groups: 191 in the sequential group and 261 in the individual group. The 147 pairs were matched by the propensity score. In the matched pairs, the rates of off-pump, complete revascularization, and hospital death were comparable between the two groups. Early graft evaluation was performed in 78.6%. There was no occlusion of the sequential LITA graft itself, but 5 complications occurred involving the distal segment of the LITA graft (occlusion, 2; string, 2; and competition, 1), and 3 complications (occlusion, 2; and string, 1) developed in the individual group. Event-free anastomosis rates were 97.8% in the sequential group and 97.4% in the individual group (p= 0.847). Diamond anastomosis of proximal sequential grafting showed a better patency of the distal part of sequential anastomosis compared with a parallel anastomosis of proximal sequential grafting (98.4% vs 90.7%, respectively). The freedom from target lesion revascularization and overall survival at 8 years was 94.6% and 96.3% in the sequential and individual groups, respectively (log-rank p= 0.645) and 80.7% and 77.4% (p= 0.300), respectively. In situ sequential LITA grafting provides acceptable early graft patency and freedom from repeat revascularization, resulting in excellent survival. This technique is a useful strategy for multivessel revascularization including the left circumflex area.