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Ann Thorac Surg 2001;72:S999-S1003
© 2001 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

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Supplement: Cardiothoracic techniques and technologies

Is the GraftConnector a valid alternative to running suture in end-to-side coronary arteries anastomoses?

^a Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
^b Department of Pathology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
^c Department of Cardiac Surgery, Lund University Hospital, Lund, Sweden

Address reprint requests to Dr Tozzi, Service de Chirurgie CardioVasculaire—BH10, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Rue du Bugnon, 46 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland
e-mail: tozzig{at}hotmail.com

Presented at the Seventh Annual Cardiothoracic Techniques and Technologies Meeting 2001, New Orleans, LA, Jan 24–27, 2001.

Background. An animal study was carried out to compare long-term patency rates of coronary anastomoses performed with the GraftConnector versus running suture technique.

Methods. 10 sheep, 45 to 55 kg, underwent off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (right internal mammary artery to left anterior descending artery). In 5 animals, the anastomosis was performed with a GraftConnector and in 5 animals with 7-0 running suture. Intraoperative fluoroscopy and a fluoroscopic control at 6 months were performed. After 6 months, the animals were sacrificed and the anastomoses were examined histologically.

Results. All animals survived at 6 months with 100% anastomosis patency rates in both groups. In the GraftConnector group, the anastomosis diameter at 6 months fluoroscopy was 118% of native left anterior descending artery versus 97% of the control group. Luminal anastomotic width at histology was 1.7 ± 0.2 mm in the device group versus 1.6 ± 0.1 mm in the control group. Mean intimal hyperplasia thickness was 0.21 ± 0.1 mm in the device group versus 0.01 mm in the control group.

Conclusions. The GraftConnector provides a consistent and reproducible coronary artery anastomosis and reduces technical demand and manual dexterity in coronary operations. Long-term results demonstrate that off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting performed with the GraftConnector had the same patency rate and luminal width as those performed with running suture.

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