• MagruderJ TrentJTDivision of Cardiac Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md., Allen Young, Joshua C Grimm, John V Conte, Ashish S Shah, Kaushik Mandal, Christopher M Sciortino, Kenton J Zehr, Duke E Cameron, and Joel Price.
• Division of Cardiac Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.
• J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. 2016 Jul 1; 152 (1): 120-7.

BackgroundDespite evidence that bilateral internal thoracic arteries (ITAs) improve long-term survival after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), uptake of this technique remains low. We directly compared bilateral ITA graft configurations and examined long-term outcomes.MethodsWe reviewed 762 patients who underwent CABG using bilateral ITA grafts at our institution between 1997 and 2014. The outcomes were mortality and a composite revascularization end point defined as need for percutaneous coronary intervention or repeat CABG. Adjusted subgroup analyses were performed using propensity score-adjusted Cox proportional hazards modeling.ResultsThe cohort was divided into 4 groups: in situ (left ITA [LITA] anastomosed to the left anterior descending artery [LAD] with in situ right ITA [RITA] anastomosed to the left coronary circulation [239 patients]); in situ LITA-LAD and in situ RITA-right coronary circulation (239 patients); in situ RITA-LAD with in situ LITA-left coronary circulation (185 patients); and in situ LITA-LAD with a free RITA as a composite graft with inflow from the LITA or a saphenous vein graft (99 patients). Over a median follow-up of 1128 days, there were 47 deaths, 58 late percutaneous coronary interventions, and 7 repeat CABG procedures. Unadjusted Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a difference in need for repeat revascularization among the 4 groups (log rank P = .049). However, after statistical adjustment, graft configuration was not an independent predictor of repeat revascularization or death.ConclusionsBilateral ITA graft configuration has no independent effect on need for repeat revascularization or long-term survival. Therefore, the simplest technique, determined by individual patient characteristics, should be selected.Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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