Background: This study presents the late patency rate of the right internal thoracic artery (ITA) used in situ through the pericardium transverse sinus to the circumflex artery and its branches.
Methods: From April 1983 to December 1994, 2,642 patients were submitted to myocardial revascularization; 201 of them had bilateral ITAs. The right ITA through the transverse sinus was grafted to obtuse marginal artery in 170 patients (84.5%) and the left ITA was grafted to the anterior descending artery in 188 patients (93.5%). Angiographic studies were performed in 80 patients, 44 patients in the immediate postoperative period and 36 patients in the late follow-up (mean, 51.6 months).
Results: The right ITA was patent in 75 patients (93.7%) and the left ITA was patent in 77 (96.2%). At the late postoperative period, the right ITA was patent in 33 patients (91.6%) and the left ITA was patent in 34 (94.4%).
Conclusions: The right ITA placed through the pericardium transverse sinus has a good long-term patency rate, similar to that observed with the left ITA and superior to that of saphenous vein grafts for myocardial revascularization.