Evaluation of coronary artery bypass grafts using helical scan computed tomography

The patency of coronary artery bypass grafts was evaluated by helical compu ted tomographic (CT) scan. One hundred forty patients who received an enhan ced chest CT scan and a coronary angiography after bypass surgery were stud ied before discharge at the Fukui Cardiovascular Center. Among them was a t otal of 398 grafts and 436 anastomoses. For the evaluation of 248 vein graf ts, the CT scan showed a 99.5% correct positive ratio and an overall accura cy of 96.4%. In 122 internal thoracic arteries tested, an overall accuracy of 64.7% was obtained. In gastroepiploic artery tests the overall accuracy was 33.3% and in radial artery tests it was 45.5%. Thirty-seven venous sequ ential anastomoses in 34 grafts and 1. internal thoracic artery sequential anastomosis were also evaluated. In the venous sequential anastomosis, the CT scan showed a 73.0% of accuracy overall. This study showed that the heli cal CT scan was useful to evaluate graft patency following bypass surgery. (C) 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.