[Role of electron-beam tomography in diagnosing patency of aortocoronary and mammary-coronary shunts (from data from a 3-year study)].

AIM: To assess informative value of electron-beam tomography (EBT) and to compare dynamics of occlusive defects of autovenous and autoarterial shunts. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 36 patients with coronary heart disease entered the study. All the patients have undergone coronary artery bypass operation and/or mammarocoronary bypass operation (CABO and MCBO, respectively). For three years after the surgery the patients were annually examined with EBT-shuntography. The contrast agent was injected intravenously in a dose 135-140 ml with the injection rate 3.5-4.0 ml/s. In addition to EBT-shuntography, selective x-ray contrast shuntography was conducted one year after CABO. RESULTS: By a comparative analysis, EBT sensitivity and specificity in examination of autovenous shunts patency is 100%, in assessment of patency of mammary shunts is 93 and 100%, respectively. The 3-year retrospective analysis has revealed occlusions in 17.1% venous shunts and 2.7% arterial ones in the first year after CABO and MCBO, 5.2 and 2.8% in the second year, respectively, and in 1.8% venous shunts in the third year. CONCLUSION: EBT-shuntography is a highly informative non-invasive method of diagnosis of aortocoronary shunts patency.