THE TECHNIQUE OF RADIAL ARTERY BYPASS-GRAFTING AND EARLY CLINICAL-RESULTS

There is renewed interest in the use of the radial artery as a conduit for coronary artery bypass. Fifty patients underwent bypass surgery u sing the radial artery in addition to other conduits between November 24, 1992 and November 8, 1994 at our institution. The mean age was 54. 4 +/- 9.1 years (mean +/- SD) and 47 of the patients were male. There were 3.6 +/- 0.9 anastomoses per patient, of which 2.2 +/- 0.4 were ar terial anastomoses. The most common target vessel for the radial arter y has been the obtuse marginal (58.8%), with the aorta as the usual si te for proximal anastomosis (80.4%,). There have been no ischemic hand complications and no radial nerve deficits. There have been no early or late deaths and no myocardial ischemic complications related to the use of the radial artery. We present the techniques used at our insti tution for the use of the radial artery as a conduit for coronary arte ry bypass.