SIMILAR HOSPITAL MORBIDITY WITH THE USE OF ONE OR 2 INTERNAL THORACICARTERIES

The hospital morbidity and mortality of 100 patients operated with two internal thoracic arteries with or without additional vein grafts (BI TA group) were compared with a matched group of 100 patients operated with one left internal thoracic artery (ITA) on the anterior descendin g artery with additional vein grafts (LITA control group). In each stu dy group, 3% of the patients had diabetes mellitus. There was no stati stical significant difference in hospital mortality (1% versus 0%), pe rioperative myocardial infarction (52 versus 1%), low cardiac output ( 3% versus 5%), rethoracotomy (1% versus O%), lung complications (13% v ersus 13%), wound complications (8% versus 8%), other cardiac complica tions (26% versus 16%), other noncardiac complications (1% versus 4%), median duration of stay in the intensive care unit (1 versus 1 day), and mean duration of stay in the hospital (10.4 versus 10.8 days) betw een the groups. Logistic regression analysis showed that the number of ITAs used was not a predictor of complications. Thus, there is no dif ference between the BITA and LITA control group in hospital mortality and morbidity (in patients with a low incidence of diabetes). If an im provement in cardiac event-free and reoperation-free survival is to be expected, the use of both ITAs can be continued in similar patients.