Background: Some criticisms have been addressed to off-pump coronary surgery technique concerning the possibility of its systematic use with the respect of the completeness of revascularization. We report our experience with off-pump revascularization in patients with multivessel coronary disease.
Methods: Between September 1997 and April 2003, 868 patients with multivessel coronary disease were scheduled for off-pump surgical revascularization. From September 2000, the percentage of patients operated on without cardiopulmonary bypass has been stably > 90%. Fifteen patients (1.7%) had a conversion to cardiopulmonary bypass for anatomical reasons (n = 6) or clinical instability (n = 9).
Results: An average of 2.5 +/- 0.8 (range 1-5) anastomoses per patient were completed. Bilateral mammary artery was used in 573 patients (66%); totally arterial revascularization was accomplished in 479 patients (55.2%). In-hospital mortality rate was 0.6% (5 patients). Total incidence of non-fatal postoperative complications (bleeding requiring re-exploration, perioperative myocardial infarction, stroke, new onset of acute renal failure) was 3.5%. Mean postoperative hospital stay was 4.8 +/- 3.8 days. At a mean follow-up of 21.6 +/- 15.6 months (range 1-65 months), the postoperative actuarial survival rates were 97.3, 93.7 and 86.7% at 1, 3 and 5 years postoperatively. Actuarial freedom rates from new revascularization were 98.7, 96.6 and 96.6% at 1, 3 and 5 years postoperatively.
Conclusions: Early- and intermediate-term results of this study demonstrate the feasibility of off-pump revascularization in all patients with multivessel coronary disease, respecting the criterion of complete myocardial revascularization.