Coronary artery bypass graft patency: noninvasive evaluation with MR imaging

A noninvasive means of determining coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patency in symptomatic patients would be an important clinical asset. The accuracy of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was evaluated for this purpose. Multiphasic electrocardiographically gated MR imaging examinations were performed in 25 patients with a total of 72 grafts. Transverse images of the heart at ten anatomic levels were obtained at five or six phases of the cardiac cycle. The MR images were read blindly to determine CABG patency versus occlusion, and these results were compared with those of coronary angiography performed within 2 months before the MR imaging. MR imaging correctly disclosed 43 patent grafts and 13 occluded grafts (predictive accuracy, 78%). Patency and occlusion were incorrectly diagnosed from MR imaging findings in five and four CABGs, respectively. CABG status could not be determined in seven (10%) grafts because the grafts were visualized at only one anatomic level. Thus, the accuracy of a definitive MR imaging evaluation was 91% (43 of 47 grafts) for patency determination and 72% (13 of 18 grafts) for occlusion determination. MR imaging appears to be a useful method for the noninvasive evaluation of CABGs.