Does the site of coronary endarterectomy have an impact on the clinical outcomes and graft patency

OBJECTIVES: To explore whether coronary endarterectomy (CE) sites have obvious impacts on the clinical outcomes and graft patency in off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB). METHODS: The patients who underwent OPCAB with CE in our unit between January 2009 and December 2016 were included. The patients and the grafts were grouped according to the CE sites. The primary end points were mid-term main adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. RESULTS: In total, 290 patients who underwent OPCAB with CE were included. CE of the left anterior descending artery (LAD), left circumflex artery and the right coronary artery was performed in 46, 30 and 194 patients, respectively. There were 60, 42 and 217 grafts anastomosed to LAD-CE, left circumflex artery-CE and right coronary artery-CE sites in 290 patients. CE was not performed in the 20 patients requiring multivessel CE. There was no significant difference in perioperative outcomes. The average follow-up time was 51 months (12-103 months). There was no significant difference in mid-term death, main adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, Canadian Cardiovascular Classification for angina class and 1-year graft patency among the 3 groups. However, the rate of New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III or IV (LAD vs left circumflex artery: 59% vs 25%, P = 0.011; LAD vs right coronary artery: 59% vs 27%, P < 0.001) was higher in the LAD group than in the other groups. These results were consistent with the Kaplan-Meier curves of freedom from the adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: CE sites had no obvious impact on mid-term death, main adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, MI, stroke, Canadian Cardiovascular Classification for angina class and 1-year graft patency in patients who underwent OPCAB with CE. The patients undergoing LAD-CE had higher rates of NYHA class III or IV.