The impact of sequential versus single anastomoses on flow characteristics and mid-term patency of saphenous vein grafts in coronary bypass grafting

Objective To assess the influence of bypass grafting technique on the flow characteristics and mid-term patency of saphenous vein coronary bypass grafts. Methods In the present study, 309 patients who underwent either sequential (group A, N = 84 grafts) or individual (group B, N = 244 grafts) saphenous vein coronary bypass grafting between February 2002 and September 2007 were investigated. Individual bypassing only was performed in 212 patients, and sequential bypassing only was performed in 78 patients. The remaining 19 patients received both. A total of 436 distal anastomoses were performed with 328 saphenous vein grafts. The intraoperative flow characteristics and the graft patency were assessed with the transit time flow meter and serial multi-detector computed tomography coronary angiograms, respectively. Results Group A showed a higher mean flow compared with group B at 49.4 ± 27.4 mL/min versus 37.1 ± 20.1 mL/min, respectively ( P  = .001). The mean flow increased linearly as the number of anastomoses increased per graft ( P P  = .048). After adjustment for baseline characteristics, group A showed a tendency for superior mid-term patency than group B (hazard ratio 0.362; 95% confidence interval, 0.129–1.017; P  = .0538). Conclusions Sequential bypass grafts were associated with higher mean flows and superior mid-term patency compared with individual grafts. These findings suggest the more favorable results of sequential bypass grafting to be attributed to the enhanced flow hemodynamics.