Reopening of the Occluded Saphenous Vein Composite Grafts After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

Background. We have observed reopening of the occluded “no-touch” saphenous vein (NT SV) composite grafts on follow-up angiograms in patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graftings (CABG). Methods. Between 2008 and 2018, 1283 patients received NT SV conduits without or with surrounding pedicle tissue as composite grafts based on the in situ left internal thoracic artery (ITA) for CABG and underwent early postoperative angiographies. Among the 1283 patients, 53 patients showed 55 occluded SV conduit anastomoses, and 46 patients who had 48 occluded SV anastomoses were re-evaluated by 1-year postoperative angiographies. Results. Early postoperative angiographies in 1283 patients demonstrated overall occlusion rates of 1.2% (56/4518); occlusion rates of the ITA and SV were 0.08% (1/1259) and 1.7% (55/3260), respectively. One-year angiograms demonstrated that 14 occluded SV anastomoses (29.2% [14/48 occluded SV]) of 14 patients became patent. Reopening of occluded SV conduits occurred more frequently in NT SV with pedicle tissue than in NT SV without pedicle tissue (45.0% [9/20] versus 17.9% [5/28]; P=0.057). When we examined the preoperative and 1-year postoperative angiograms, reopening of the occluded SV conduits was not related with progression (P=0.258) or preoperative reversibility score (P=0.115) of native target coronary artery disease. Conclusions. More than a quarter of the occluded SV composite grafts on early postoperative angiograms were patent in the 1-year angiograms. The reopening rates were higher in patients who had received NT SV conduits with pedicle tissue than those who had received NT SV conduits without pedicle tissue.