Coronary collaterals and graft failure

In this chapter, we recall the role of the coronary collateral circulation in severe obstructive coronary diseases, and, based on the literature review, we try to provide an answer to the question: When patients undergo aorto-coronary bypass graft surgery, does good collateral flow reduce the risk of graft disease or, on the contrary, does it increase the risk of graft disease? In order to get additional arguments, a review of the numerical models and simulations addressing this problem is also included in the chapter.