Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Jan 23;20(1):4.
doi: 10.1007/s11886-018-0947-1.

Bilateral Versus Single Internal Thoracic Artery Grafts

Michael Persson  1   2 , Ulrik Sartipy  3   4
Affiliations
Review

Bilateral Versus Single Internal Thoracic Artery Grafts

Michael Persson et al. Curr Cardiol Rep. .

Abstract

Purpose of review: Several advances have been made in recent years to improve outcome for patients with coronary artery disease. One of the most debated topics regarding surgical treatment with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is graft selection. This review aims to present the current status and scientific evidence for bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) grafting.

Recent findings: Observational studies and pooled analyses suggest that BITA grafting is associated with improved survival. Early results from a large randomized controlled trial report safety and efficacy of the method. The improved survival might be amplified in select groups, but with an increase in sternal wound-related complications. The benefit of BITA grafts seems to remain to an approximate age of 69 years at surgery. CABG with BITA grafts is likely associated with improved long-term survival at a cost of an increase in sternal wound infections. Ten-year results from the Arterial Revascularization Trial are expected in 2018, providing the best evidence regarding the method yet. Early results show it is a safe method in most patient categories considerable for CABG.

Keywords: Arterial grafting; BITA; CABG; Internal thoracic artery; Long-term survival; Sternal wound infections.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

Michael Persson and Ulrik Sartipy declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

References

    1. Dee R. Who assisted whom? Tex Heart Inst J. 2003;30:90. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Windecker S, Kolh P, Alfonso F, Collet JP, Cremer J, Falk V, et al. 2014 ESC/EACTS Guidelines on myocardial revascularization: the Task Force on Myocardial Revascularization of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS)Developed with the special contribution of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI) Eur Heart J. 2014;35(37):2541–2619. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehu278. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Loop FD, Lytle BW, Cosgrove DM, Stewart RW, Goormastic M, Williams GW, Golding LAR, Gill CC, Taylor PC, Sheldon WC, Proudfit WL. Influence of the internal-mammary-artery graft on 10-year survival and other cardiac events. N Engl J Med. 1986;314(1):1–6. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198601023140101. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Locker C, Schaff HV, Dearani JA, Daly RC. Improved late survival with arterial revascularization. Ann Cardiothorac Surg. 2013;2(4):467–474. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tatoulis J. Total arterial coronary revascularization-patient selection, stenoses, conduits, targets. Ann Cardiothorac Surg. 2013;2(4):499–506. - PMC - PubMed