No-touch Saphenous Vein Grafts vs Radial Artery Grafts; A Randomized Trial.
No-touch Saphenous Vein Grafts vs Radial Artery Grafts; A Randomized Trial.
The investigators have developed a novel technique for saphenous vein graft harvesting for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) where the graft is harvested with a pedicle of surrounding tissue. A randomized trial has shown a significantly higher patency rate for vein grafts harvested with this new methode compared to conventional harvesting technique 8.5 years after surgery (90 vs 76 %). In 2004 the investigators started a prospective randomized trial comparing patency between vein grafts harvested with surrounding tissue and radial artery grafts. The result showed that vein grafts harvested with surrounding tissue had a significantly higher patency rate compared to radial artery grafts 3 years after surgery (98 vs 84 %). The present study is a long-term follow-up (8 years) of the patients included in the second randomized trial. The hypothesis is that vein grafts harvested with surrounding tissue have a significantly higher patency rate compared to radial artery grafts 8 years after surgery.
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