IMPACT OF AORTOCORONARY GRAFT MARKERS ON SUBSEQUENT GRAFT PATENCY - ARETROSPECTIVE REVIEW

The use of aorto-coronary graft markers has not been standard, presuma bly due to concern about possible adverse effects on subsequent graft patency. Our goal was to determine if there was any increased risk of graft occlusion in patients who received circumferential graft markers at the time of their coronary artery bypass (CAB) surgery. A retrospe ctive review of angiograms was performed for patients with prior CAB, Cohorts with and without graft markers were compared. A total of 405 ' 'unmarked'' and 311 ''marked'' grafts were identified in 335 patients meeting inclusion criteria, Patency is reported in divisions of elapse d time since CAB. Overall patency in the ''marked'' group (71.1%) was significantly higher than in the ''unmarked'' group (58.0%, P < 0.001) . In this retrospective population, there was no increased risk of gra ft occlusion in patients who received circumferential graft markers at the time of CAB surgery as compared to those patients who did not. (C ) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.