European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Jul 2019
Meta AnalysisWhat is the best graft to supplement the bilateral internal thoracic artery to the left coronary system? A meta-analysis.
This meta-analysis was designed to assess the effect of the use of arterial conduits (ACs) versus great saphenous vein (GSV) grafts as a third conduit for revascularization of the right coronary artery system, in addition to the bilateral internal mammary artery on the left coronary artery. PubMed and OVID's version of MEDLINE were searched from January 2000 to September 2017 for relevant publications. The primary end point was the long-term mortality rate. ⋯ No publication bias was found. This meta-analysis is the first to compare the GSV to the radial artery and the right gastroepiploic artery for right coronary artery grafting in patients receiving a bilateral internal mammary artery to left coronary artery. The choice of a third AC seems to be preferable in order to achieve better long-term survival.