Radial Artery Graft Following Transradial Catheterisation: Efficacy of Preoperative Ultrasound Screening

Although the radial artery (RA) has long been the primary entry site for coronary angiography or intervention, there have been few studies on the viability of using cannulated radial arteries as a graft. Several studies have found that radial arteries after transradial catheterisation (TRC) have decreased vasomotor function, pathological intimal damage, and patency rate as a coronary bypass graft. In our facility, we used the RA following TRC as a graft after an extensive preoperative ultrasound screening (US). We investigated the validity of this approach.

This study included 123 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery using a RA graft. All patients had preoperative forearm artery US. Graft patency was compared between 58 patients who had TRC (group C) and 65 patients who did not undergo it (group NC).

Early stenosis-free patency rates were 94.8% in group C and 95.4% in group NC (p=0.890). The estimated 5- and 8-year stenosis-free patency rates were 86.4% and 86.4% in group C, respectively, while group NC had 86.0% and 78.8% (p=0.892), respectively.

TRC did not appear to have a direct effect on the RA graft's patency rate. If a thorough preoperative US confirms the absence of obvious morphologic abnormalities, its use may be deemed appropriate.