Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The main objective was to assess whether a composite coronary artery bypass grafting strategy including a saphenous vein graft bridge to distribute left internal mammary artery outflow provides non-inferior patency rates compared to conventional grafting surgery with separated left internal mammary artery to left anterior descending coronary graft and aorto-coronary saphenous vein grafts to other anterolateral targets. METHODS: All patients underwent isolated grafting surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass and received ≥2 grafts/patients on the anterolateral territory. The graft patency (i.e. non-occluded) was assessed using multislice spiral computed tomography at 1 year. RESULTS: From 2012 to 2021, 208 patients were randomized to a bridge (n = 105) or conventional grafting strategy (n = 103). Patient characteristics were comparable between groups. The anterolateral graft patency was non-inferior in the composite bridge compared to conventional grafting strategy at 1 year [risk difference 0.7% (90% confidence interval -4.8 to 6.2%)]. The graft patency to the left anterior descending coronary was no different between groups (P = 0.175). Intraoperatively, the bridge group required shorter vein length for anterolateral targets (P < 0.001) and exhibited greater Doppler flow in the mammary artery pedicle (P = 0.004). The composite outcome of death, myocardial infarction or target vessel reintervention at 30 days was no different (P = 0.164). CONCLUSIONS: Anterolateral graft patency of the composite bridge grafting strategy is non-inferior to the conventional grafting strategy at 1 year. This novel grafting strategy is safe, efficient, associated with several advantages including better mammary artery flow and shorter vein requirement, and could be a valuable alternative to conventional grafting strategies. Ten-year clinical follow-up is underway. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01585285.