Background: The diffusely diseased coronary artery is a challenge for cardiac surgeons. Although coronary endarterectomy is an option for surgical reconstruction of a diffusely diseased vessel, it has not been widely used. We assessed the early clinical and angiographic outcomes of patients undergoing coronary endarterectomy of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) with a patch plasty method using the left internal thoracic artery (LITA). Furthermore, we assessed the coronary artery velocity flow reserve (CFVR) of the endarterectomized LAD.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 148 patients undergoing LAD endarterectomy using the in situ LITA. Direct endarterectomy was performed with a long segmental incision of the LAD that was reconstructed with the longitudinally incised LITA. The mean age at surgery was 65.1±8.6 years. Previous myocardial infarction was observed in 58.1% of the patients. The mean Canadian Cardiovascular Society score was 2.4±0.9. Postoperative angiography was performed in 134 patients (91.2%) during the same hospitalization (mean, 11.2±9.0 postoperative days). CFVR in the LAD was measured early after the operation by transthoracic echocardiography.
Results: The mean number of distal anastomoses per patient was 4.2±1.3. The mean length of reconstructed LAD with endarterectomy was 5.8±1.5 cm. The operative mortality was 2.7%. Low cardiac output occurred in 6.1% of the patients. Perioperative myocardial infarction was observed in 12.2% of the patients, but severe ventricular arrhythmia was not encountered. The patency rate of the LITA to LAD was 94.0% by early angiographic examination. The mean CFVR in the endarterectomized LAD was 2.41±0.66.
Conclusions: Coronary endarterectomy of the LAD with a patch plasty using the LITA is associated with acceptable mortality, morbidity, and angiographic patency. CVFR measured by transthoracic echocardiography showed a favorable functional status in the endarterectomized LAD. Endarterectomy is considered to be one of the available surgical methods for patients with a diffusely diseased LAD.