Objective: Off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) using the left internal thoracic artery (LITA) with a composite radial artery (RA) was employed for arterial revascularization in order to minimize neurological complication.
Methods: Sixty-one patients underwent OPCAB using the LITA with a composite RA. Angiography was performed in all patients at two weeks postoperatively.
Results: The mean number of distal anastomoses was 3.2 +/- 0.4. A Y-composite graft was used in 55 patients, and K-composite graft was used in the other 6 patients. There was no hospital death, no neurological complication nor deep sternal infection. Furthermore, there was no episode of perioperative myocardial infarction nor hypoperfusion syndrome. Patients have been angina-free during a mean follow-up period of 1 year. The graft patency of the LITA to the left anterior descending artery (LAD) was 100% (61/61 anastomoses). The RA became occluded in 4 patients, and the patency rate was 95.6% (130/136 anastomoses). String or coronary-coronary bypass resulting from flow competition was observed in the LITA of 6 patients and in the RA of 13 patients. The string of the LITA occurred in the segment distal from the anastomosis with the composite RA. The string or coronary-coronary bypass was observed more often in cases in which the recipient coronary artery had less than 75% stenosis.
Conclusion: OPCAB using only the LITA with a composite RA can be successfully and safely performed in patients with multivessel disease. Late postoperative follow-up of the flow competition is necessary to delineate the significance of flow competition.