Bypass Grafting to Circumflex: Left Internal Thoracic Artery versus Saphenous Vein

This study aimed to compare the short- and long-term outcomes of saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) and in situ left internal thoracic artery (LITA) grafts to the left circumflex artery (LCX) territory.

This study included 678 patients who underwent LITA-left anterior descending (LAD) + SVG-LCX grafts and 286 patients who underwent right internal thoracic artery (RITA)-LAD + in situ LITA-LCX grafts from January 2002 to December 2020. Short-term and long-term clinical outcomes were compared using inverse probability of treatment weighting adjustment to reduce selection bias.

In-hospital mortality was significantly higher for the SVG-LCX group (p = 0.008), whereas deep sternal wound infection was significantly higher in the LITA-LCX group (p = 0.013).Survival rates at 5 and 10 years were 83.12 and 71.45% in the SVG-LCX group, whereas 75.24 and 65.54% in the LITA-LCX group (log-rank p = 0.114). Rates of freedom from cardiac events at 5 and 10 years were 92.82 and 85.24% in the SVG-LCX group, whereas 94.89 and 89.46% in the LITA-LCX group (log-rank p = 0.179).Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that proximal severe stenosis was significantly protective against graft dysfunction before discharge (odds ratio, 0.43; 95% confidence interval, 0.23-0.81).

Deep sternal wound infection was significantly higher for LITA to LCX bypass whereas in-hospital mortality was higher for SVG to LCX. In situ LITA to LCX bypass grafting exhibited similar long-term outcomes with SVG to LCX bypass grafting in adjusted patient cohorts. Proximal severe stenosis of LCX was protective against graft dysfunction.