In situ right gastroepiploic artery. A conduit for coronary revascularization.

The internal mammary artery is widely recognized as the graft of choice for coronary artery bypass grafting at present. Alternative conduits have been investigated in order to find other adequate long-term grafts. The right gastroepiploic artery has been recently used as a graft to bypass distal coronary vessels. From November 1989 to June 1990, we have implanted this artery in 46 cases. Pedicled grafts were implanted in 20 patients to the main right coronary artery, in 21 patients we grafted the right distal branches, in 3 patients the left anterior descending, and in 2 the circumflex branches. Mean grafts per patient were 3 in this series, with a mean of 2.2 arterial grafts per patient. One patient died in the early postoperative period. The remaining patients had an uncomplicated postoperative evolution. Thirteen patients underwent graft and coronary angiography. Direct or indirect graft patency was confirmed in all cases. The final important issue concerning the long-term patency of this graft will be solved in the future, but short-term patency rates of the right gastroepiploic artery can be anticipated when proper techniques are used.