Preoperative Computed Tomography of the Right Gastroepiploic Artery for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

Grafting the right gastroepiploic artery (GEA) to the right coronary artery (RCA) is effective, but preoperative evaluation of arterial conduit availability has not been established. By comparing the midterm graft results, we aimed to assess the efficacy of preoperative evaluation of the GEA using computed tomography (CT).

We retrospectively examined patients who underwent isolated coronary artery bypass grafting surgery between April 2010 and December 2020, and those whose GEA was grafted to the RCA were selected: 55 patients were included in the study analysis. Postoperative evaluations were performed during the early phase, 1 year postoperatively, and at follow-up evaluations. The outer diameter of the proximal GEA was compared with the midterm graft patency grade on CT and patients were classified as Functional (Grade A) or Dysfunctional (Grades O or B). The proximal GEA outer diameters were significantly different between the Functional and Dysfunctional groups (P<0.001). Furthermore, multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that this diameter was an independent predictor of graft functionality (P<0.001). Patients with outer proximal diameters larger than the cutoff value had superior graft results at 3 years postoperatively. The rate of freedom from a dysfunctional graft at 3 years postoperatively was 95.5% and 45.5% for the Larger and Smaller diameter subgroups, respectively (P<0.001).

Preoperative evaluation of the outer diameter of the proximal GEA, excluding calcified GEA, using CT is a minimally invasive and useful method, and may improve midterm results of in-situ GEA grafting, even in severe stenotic lesions.