Factors affecting saphenous vein graft patency: Clinical and angiographic study in 1402 symptomatic patients operated on between 1977 and 1999

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to find the preoperative and intraoperative factors that affect vein graft patency. Methods: A total of 3715 graft angiograms in 1607 patients were studied for recurrence of angina. The preoperative patient characteristics and intraoperative variables were prospectively collected from patients who had primary coronary artery bypass grafting during the period from 1977 to 1999. A total of 1339 (83%) patients were male, with a mean age of 59 years. The mean period from operation to reangiogram was 99 months. The saphenous vein was grafted to the left anterior descending artery in 557 (15%), to the diagonal artery in 669 (18%), to the obtuse marginal ar..