Percutaneous saphenous vein graft intervention--a review.

Re-do coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery carries significant risk to the patient and existing patent internal thoracic artery grafts. Stenting stenotic saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) with drug-eluting stents (DES) using embolic protection devices (EPDs) is therefore probably the optimum treatment. However, this is fraught with challenges such as distal embolisation and restenosis which may result in peri-procedural myocardial infarction and target vessel failure, respectively. This review focuses on the nature of SVG disease, percutaneous intervention utilising embolic protection and future directions aimed at combating the disappointingly high procedural complication rate and long-term recurrence in this group.