Background: To compare the results of venous versus arterial revascularization of the right coronary
(RCA) territory in patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery with bilateral mammary
revascularization.
Method: In this retrospective, propensity-score matched, case-control, cross-sectional study,
all patients with three-vessel coronary disease who underwent coronary revascularization
from January 1999 to December 2000 were screened for inclusion. The inclusion criteria
included all patients who underwent surgery using bilateral mammary arteries (BIMA).
The exclusion criteria comprised reoperations, missing perioperative data, and loss
to follow-up. The included patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 underwent
complete arterial revascularization with BIMA to all three coronary territories and
group 2 underwent a BIMA revascularization to the left coronary system and a separate
venous revascularization to the RCA territory. Both groups were then propensity-score
matched according to age, sex, diabetes status, smoking, renal impairment, arterial
hypertension, ejection fraction, hyperlipidemia, peripheral vascular disease, NYHA
class, and BMI. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality. The secondary endpoints
were death due to cardiac cause, myocardial infarction, stroke, reintervention, and
RCA bypass patency in follow-up coronary catheterization.
Results: A total of 883 patients were screened; 452 met the primary inclusion criteria. Twenty-year
follow-up data were available for 318 patients (70.4%). After 1:1 matching, 274 patients
were matched and included in the study (137 for each group). There were no perioperative
significant differences between the groups. Kaplan–Meier curves showed no significant
differences between group 1 and 2 on overall 20-year survival (49 vs. 40%, p = 0.145). Group 2 had a higher cardiac mortality (41 vs. 22%, p =0.021) and myocardial infarction rates (21 vs. 12%, p = 0.04). There were no significant differences between the groups regarding the other
secondary endpoints. 55% of group 1 and 67% of group 2 underwent coronary angiogram
during follow-up. The coronary angiogram showed a higher right coronary bypass patency
in group 1 but with no statistical significance (77 vs. 57%, p = 0.0338).
Conclusion: Arterial revascularization of the right coronary system in BIMA coronary surgery
shows lower infarction rates and cardiac deaths after 20 years of follow-up. Complete
arterial revascularization should be encouraged for all coronary territories.