Surgical management of diffusely diseased coronary arteries

To analyze the outcomes of long segment coronary anastomoses in patients with diffusely diseased coronary arteries and compare them with medically managed patients.

We retrospectively studied patients with diffusely diseased coronary arteries who underwent complete revascularization with long segment coronary reconstruction (> 2 cm in length) from February 2015 to November 2016. During the same time, patients who opted medical management for diffuse coronary artery disease were also studied.

Forty-one patients underwent long segment coronary anastomoses for diffuse coronary artery disease with either left internal thoracic artery (LITA) or saphenous vein conduits. In 15 (36.58%) patients, the anastomosis length was more than 4 cm. In 41 patients, left anterior descending (LAD) artery had long segment anastomosis and in four patients, posterior descending artery (PDA) had long segment anastomosis. Twenty-one patients were operated off-pump and the rest were operated on cardiopulmonary bypass. The post-operative recovery of all the patients was uneventful. There were no procedural complications. There was one mortality due to cerebrovascular accident (2.43%). During the study period, 50 patients with diffuse coronary artery disease were under medical management. In the medically managed group, there were seven death during the follow-up, with mortality rate of 14%.

Patients with diffuse disease coronary diseases, who are surgically managed, have a better outcome when compared to the medically managed patients with acceptable morbidity and mortality.