HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Tirone E. David Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Ojha, M. Articles by Butany, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ojha, M. Articles by Butany, J.

Ann Thorac Surg 2000;70:1338-1344
© 2000 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

---

Original articles: cardiovascular

Histology and morphology of 59 internal thoracic artery grafts and their distal anastomoses

^a Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Canada
^b Department of Pathology, The Toronto Hosital and University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
^c Department of Surgery, The Toronto General Hospital and University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Address reprint requests to Dr Butany, Department of Pathology, The Toronoto General Hospital, 200 Elizabeth St, E4-316, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 2C4
e-mail: jagdish.butany{at}uhn.on.ca

Background. The left internal thoracic artery (LITA) is accepted as a superior graft for the left coronary system because of its better long-term patency rate than saphenous grafts. The postsurgical histomorphometric changes at the distal anastomsis of LITA grafts are not well documented.

Methods. The cellular changes within the intima of 59 LITA grafts were analyzed by light microscopy.

Results. Grafts implanted 1 week or less (n = 34) showed no postsurgical tissue proliferation. Of the 7 grafts implanted 1 to 8 weeks, only the suture sites exhibited intimal thickening (6 of 7 grafts, 0.08 ± 0.07 mm). The remaining grafts (n = 18), aged 2 months to 10 years, showed significant intimal thickening at the suture sites (0.39 ± 0.17 mm) and on the hood (0.29 ± 0.25 mm), with variable thickening on the floor (10 of 18 left anterior descending coronary arteries, 0.11 ± 0.12 mm). The graft body showed insignificant intimal changes (10 of 18, 0.03 ± 0.04 mm), with mild focal atherosclerotic lesions in 2 of 18 late LITA grafts.

Conclusions. Left internal thoracic artery grafts develop fibromuscular intimal hyperplasia primarily around the anastomotosis. The response on the hood appears to be a hemodynamic response, secondary to that of the suture sites.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Friedl, J. Li, B. Schumacher, H. Hanke, J. Waltenberger, A. Hannekum, and S. Stracke Intimal Hyperplasia and Expression of Transforming Growth Factor-{beta}1 in Saphenous Veins and Internal Mammary Arteries Before Coronary Artery Surgery Ann. Thorac. Surg., October 1, 2004; 78(4): 1312 - 1318. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Qin, Z. Zeng, J. Zheng, P. K. Shah, S. M. Schwartz, L. D. Adams, and B. G. Sharifi Suppression Subtractive Hybridization Identifies Distinctive Expression Markers for Coronary and Internal Mammary Arteries Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol., March 1, 2003; 23(3): 425 - 433. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]