Work

Saphenous vein grafts from thigh versus calf: Comparison of angiographic patency and clinical outcomes

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Objectives This study compared angiographic patency and clinical outcomes between the patients who used received saphenous vein (SV) grafts from the upper leg and those who received grafts from the lower leg for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Methods A total of 1,630 patients who received primary isolated off-pump CABG using the SV harvested via the no-touch technique from upper leg (UL group, n=203) or lower leg (LL group, n=1,427) were enrolled in this study. Propensity score matching was performed, and 202 pairs were matched. Early, 1-year, and 5-year graft angiograms were obtained for 99.5%, 85.7%, and 31.2% of the cohort, respectively. The median follow-up duration was 85.8 months. The primary outcome was midterm angiographic patencies, and the secondary outcomes were midterm clinical outcomes. Results There was no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the matched groups. Early clinical outcomes, including operative mortality (0.8%, 13 out of 1630), demonstrated no intergroup differences. Angiographic patency for SV grafts was not significantly different at the early (98.3% vs. 98.5% in the UL group vs. the LL group, P =.80), 1-year (94.8% vs. 95.4% in the UL group vs. the LL group, P =.74), or 5-year evaluation (97.8% vs. 96.0% in the UL group vs. the LL group, P =.43). Midterm survival up to 7 years was comparable between the groups ( P =.81). Conclusion SV grafts from the upper leg demonstrated comparable 5-year angiographic patency and 7-year clinical outcomes to those from the lower leg in off-pump CABG.

Source: JTCVS Open

DOI: 10.1016/j.xjon.2026.102079