Coronary artery bypass with freeze-preserved saphenous vein allografts

Over the past 5 years, 13 patients had coronary artery bypass performed with freeze-preserved saphenous vein allografts. There were no operative deaths or significant morbidity. Six patients were studied postoperatively at 42, 37, 10, 7, 5, and 1 months. Six of 8 grafts were patent with good flow. There were four late deaths; two of these occurred in patients who had concomitant resection of a ventricular aneurysm. Of the 9 surviving patients, 6 (6/9) are asymptomatic and 2 (2/9) have occasional chest pains; the condition of 1 patient (1/9) is unchanged. This experience suggests that free-preserved saphenous vein allografts may be used successfully for coronary bypass when autologous veins and internal mammary arteries are unavailable or insufficient for multiple bypass.