Rationale and design of a single-center randomized trial to compare the graft patency between the radial artery and the no-touch saphenous vein in coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (GRAFT-CAB Study).

BACKGROUND: Previous studies suggested only the radial artery and the No-touch (NT) technique were effective in reducing graft occlusion after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. However, there is no randomized trial comparing these 2 graft conduits. The optimum second conduit for CABG remains undetermined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is a prospective, single-center randomized clinical trial, aiming to compare the graft patency between the radial artery and the NT vein graft. All patients undergoing isolated CABG with left internal mammary artery (LIMA) plus at least 2 additional grafts will be considered eligible. About 774 cases (516 in the radial artery group and 258 in the NT vein group) will be enrolled in over 1 to 2 years. Participants will be randomized and allocated to two bypass strategies: the LIMA plus 1 radial artery and 1 conventional vein graft, or the LIMA plus 2 NT vein grafts. The primary outcome is graft occlusion at 1 year after CABG evaluated by CT angiography. The secondary outcomes include graft occlusion at 3 and 5 years and major adverse cardiac or cerebrovascular events at 1, 3, and 5 years follow-ups. DISCUSSION: This study will define whether or not the NT vein has a lower graft occlusion rate than the radial artery in short and mid-term follow-ups, and provide new evidence for the second conduit choice in CABG surgery. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06014047. Registered on October 15th, 2023.

No-Touch Versus Conventional Vein Harvesting Techniques at 12 Months After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery: Multicenter Randomized, Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Vein graft occlusion is deemed a major challenge in coronary artery bypass grafting. Previous studies implied that the no-touch technique for vein graft harvesting could reduce occlusion rate compared with the conventional approach; however, evidence on the clinical benefit and generalizability of the no-touch technique is scare. METHODS: From April 2017 to June 2019, we randomly assigned 2655 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting at 7 hospitals in a 1:1 ratio to receive no-touch technique or conventional approach for vein harvesting. The primary outcome was vein graft occlusion on computed tomography angiography at 3 months and the secondary outcomes included 12-month vein graft occlusion, recurrence of angina, and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events. The generalized estimate equation model was used to account for the cluster effect of grafts from the same patient. RESULTS: During the follow-up, 2533 (96.0%) participants received computed tomography angiography at 3 months after coronary artery bypass grafting and 2434 (92.2%) received it at 12 months. The no-touch group had significantly lower rates of vein graft occlusion than the conventional group both at 3 months (2.8% versus 4.8%; odds ratio, 0.57 [95% CI, 0.41-0.80]; P<0.001) and 12 months (3.7% versus 6.5%; odds ratio, 0.56 [95% CI, 0.41-0.76]; P<0.001). Recurrence of angina was also less common in the no-touch group at 12 months (2.3% versus 4.1%; odds ratio, 0.55 [95% CI, 0.35-0.85]; P<0.01). Rates of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events were of no significant difference between the 2 groups. The no-touch technique was associated with higher rates of leg wound surgical interventions at 3-month follow-up (10.3% versus 4.3%; odds ratio, 2.55 [95% CI, 1.85-3.52]; P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with the conventional vein harvesting approach in coronary artery bypass grafting, the no-touch technique significantly reduced the risk of vein graft occlusion and improved patient prognosis. Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT03126409.

Rationale and design of a multicenter randomized trial to compare the graft patency between no-touch vein harvesting technique and conventional approach in coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

BACKGROUND: Vein graft failure is a crucial challenge in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Previous studies have suggested a patency benefit of the No-Touch vein harvesting technique, but only with small sample sizes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is a prospective, multicenter randomized clinical trial with a large sample size, aiming to investigate the efficacy of the No-Touch technique compared with the conventional approach. All patients requiring isolated CABG with left internal mammary artery plus at least one saphenous vein graft will be considered for entry into the study. Two thousand cases (1000 in each arm) will be enrolled over 1 to 2 years in 7 hospitals in China. Participants will be randomized in equal proportions between two surgical strategies: the No-Touch or conventional technique. The primary endpoint is graft vessel occlusion at 3 months after CABG surgery by CT coronary angiography. Secondary outcomes are major adverse cardiac or cerebrovascular events at 3 and 12 months post-operation and graft vessel occlusion at 1 year. DISCUSSION: This study will define the role of the No-Touch vein harvesting technique in CABG surgery and provide strong evidence to answer whether this technique could reduce vein graft occlusion.

Quantitative flow ratio and graft outcomes of coronary artery bypass grafting surgery: A retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: Quantitative flow ratio (QFR) is a novel noninvasive tool for the functional assessment of coronary stenosis. Whether or not QFR could predict graft outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting procedure is unknown. This study aimed to investigate the association of QFR value with graft outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. METHODS: The QFR values were retrospectively obtained from patients receiving coronary artery bypass grafting surgery from 2017 to 2019 in the Graft Patency Between No-Touch Vein Harvesting Technique and Conventional Approach in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery (PATENCY) trial. QFR calculation was conducted in eligible coronary arteries, defined as those with ≥50% stenosis and a diameter ≥1.5 mm. A threshold of QFR ≤0.80 was considered functionally significant stenosis. The primary outcome was graft occlusion at 12 months evaluated by computed tomography angiography. RESULTS: Two thousand twenty-four patients with 7432 grafts (2307 arterial grafts and 5125 vein grafts) were included. For the arterial grafts, the risk of 12-month occlusion was significantly increased in the QFR >0.80 group than in the QFR ≤0.80 group (7.1% vs 2.6%; P = .001; unadjusted model: odds ratio, 3.08; 95% CI, 1.65-5.75; fully adjusted model: odds ratio, 2.67; 95% CI, 1.44-4.97). No significant association was observed in the vein grafts (4.6% vs 4.3%; P = .67; unadjusted model: odds ratio, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.82-1.47; fully adjusted model: odds ratio, 1.12; 95% CI, 0.83-1.51). Results were stable across sensitivity analyses with a QFR threshold of 0.78 and 0.75. CONCLUSIONS: Target vessel QFR >0.80 was associated with a significantly higher risk of arterial graft occlusion at 12 months after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. No significant association was found between target lesion QFR and vein graft occlusion.

Urine metabolites for preoperative prediction of acute kidney injury after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

OBJECTIVE: Acute kidney injury is a common complication after on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting. Prediction of acute kidney injury remains a challenge. Our study aims to identify a panel of urine metabolites for preoperative warning of acute kidney injury after on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting. METHODS: A total of 159 patients undergoing isolated on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting were enrolled from July 7, 2017, to May 17, 2019. Preoperative urine samples were analyzed with the approach of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based urine metabolomics. The study end point was the episode of acute kidney injury within 48 hours postoperatively. The predictive performance was determined by the area under the curve and calibration curve. The results were validated using bootstrap resampling. RESULTS: The acute kidney injury (n = 55) and nonacute kidney injury (n = 104) groups showed significant different metabolic profiling. A total of 28 metabolites showed significant differences between the acute kidney injury and nonacute kidney injury groups. A metabolite panel of 5 metabolites (tyrosyl-gamma-glutamate, deoxycholic acid glycine conjugate, 5-acetylamino-6-amino-3-methyluracil, arginyl-arginine, and L-methionine) was discovered to have a good predicting performance (area under the curve, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.82-0.93), which is higher than the clinical factor-based model (area under the curve, 0.63; 95% confidence interval, 0.53-0.72). Internal validation by bootstrap resampling showed an adjusted area under the curve of 0.88, and the calibration curve demonstrated good agreement between prediction and observation in the probability of postoperative acute kidney injury. Decision curve analysis revealed a superior net benefit of the metabolite model over the traditional clinical factor-based model. CONCLUSIONS: We present 5 urine metabolites related to acute kidney injury after coronary artery bypass grafting. This metabolite model may serve as a preoperative warning of acute kidney injury after on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting.

Outcomes of quantitative flow ratio-based functional incomplete revascularization after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery.

OBJECTIVE: Quantitative flow ratio is a novel functional assessment tool of coronary diseases. Whether quantitative flow ratio could improve the outcomes of coronary artery bypass grafting is undetermined. This study aimed to investigate the association between the quantitative flow ratio based functional incomplete revascularization and the outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. METHODS: The quantitative flow ratio assessment was retrospectively performed in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting surgery in the PATENCY trial. The anatomic complete revascularization denoted revascularizing each territory with stenosis greater than 50% evaluated by angiography. The functional complete revascularization was defined as grafting all vessels with a quantitative flow ratio 0.80 or less. The primary end point was the 12-month composite major adverse cardiac or cerebral vascular events. RESULTS: A total of 2024 patients with available quantitative flow ratio values were included. Functional complete revascularization was achieved in 1846 patients (91.2%), and 1600 received anatomic complete revascularization (79.1%). Both the functional incomplete revascularization and anatomic incomplete revascularization groups were associated with significantly increased risks of 12-month major adverse cardiac or cerebral vascular events (functional: hazard ratio, 2.91; 95% confidence interval, 1.56 to 5.43; P = .001; anatomic: hazard ratio, 2.82; 95% confidence interval, 1.54 to 5.16; P = .001). Additionally, for the subgroup of patients (n = 246) receiving anatomic incomplete revascularization but judged as functional complete revascularization by quantitative flow ratio, the risk of the 12-month major adverse cardiac or cerebral vascular events was not significantly increased (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.36; 95% confidence interval, 0.71-2.60; P = .35). CONCLUSIONS: Both the functional incomplete revascularization and anatomic incomplete revascularization were associated with increased risks of 12-month major adverse cardiac or cerebral vascular events after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. The quantitative flow ratio can serve as a supplementary tool for the decision-making of surgical revascularization.

Left main coronary artery atresia with concomitant mitral regurgitation in an adult: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Left main coronary artery (LMCA) atresia is a quite rare congenital malformation, which may present with various symptoms. Past literatures were sporadic without recent summary of world-wide cases. We hereby report an adult case of LMCA atresia with concomitant mitral regurgitation and also summarize all cases found in published literatures. CASE PRESENTATION: A 48-year old female presented with sudden dyspnea. Preliminary impression was acute heart failure caused by mitral regurgitation. Preoperative coronary angiography demonstrated that there was no left coronary ostium and multiple collateral vessels arising from right coronary artery. The diagnosis of left main coronary atresia was made and the patient received successful valvuloplasty and coronary artery bypass grafting with left internal mammary artery anastomosed to the left anterior descending (LAD) artery. She recovered well and 3-month follow-up showed the graft was patent. CONCLUSION: This case highlights the importance of angiography for diagnosis of LMCA and performance of CABG once diagnosed.

Chronic penetrating renal trauma due to iron wire ingestion: An unusual case report.

Foreign body ingestion is a common presentation in the emergency room. However, the complication such as penetrating renal trauma due to sharp objects ingestion is relatively rare. We herein describe an unusual case of penetrating renal trauma in the absence of any other urinary symptoms. A 53-year-old man who had a history of iron wire ingestion went to our hospital, on examination, he only had slight abdominal tenderness due to swallowing a ball pen and 1 cap nut 1 day before, radiological imaging showed penetrating renal trauma, the blood test showed his renal function is normal. Surgical strategies were recommended to remove the pen and the iron wire simultaneously, nonetheless the patient eventually agreed to only receive surgical removal of the swallowed ball pen and cap nut, meanwhile leave the kidney untreated. During 30 months follow-up by phone and regular outpatient examination, he recovered unevenly and had no special complaint. Such cases remind us that chronic penetrating renal trauma due to foreign object ingestion may have no obvious symptoms. It is easily to be neglected. We should try to minimize the possibility of missed lesions by adhering to a meticulous examination technique.

The results of a two-stage double switch operation for congenital corrected transposition of the great arteries with a deconditioned morphologically left ventricle.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate a two-stage double switch operation, morphological left ventricular (mLV) retraining followed by an atrial-arterial switch operation, in the management of patients with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries (CCTGA) and a deconditioned mLV. METHODS: Between May 2005 and May 2011, 14 patients with CCTGA and a deconditioned mLV anomaly underwent the two-stage double switch operation. There were eight males and six females aged between 2.5 and 72 months (mean: 34.4 ± 24.0 months) old and weighing from 5 to 23 kg (mean: 12.7 ± 4.9 kg). The major associated malformations included: tricuspid regurgitation (TR, n = 13); restrictive ventricular septal defect (n = 10); atrial septal defect or patent foramen ovale (n = 7); mild pulmonary stenosis (n = 5) and patent ductus arteriosus (n = 4). These patients underwent morphological left ventricular retraining by means of pulmonary artery banding under general anaesthesia, which was then followed by a double switch operation under general anaesthesia and cardiopulmonary bypass. RESULTS: There were no deaths or complications during the hospital stay or follow-up for the mLV retraining. In comparison with preoperative conditions, the mLV end-diastolic diameter (mLVEDd), the posterior wall thickness of the mLV and the mLV/mRV pressure ratio were all increased; the interventricular septum had moved partially to the midline position and TR had decreased. After the atrial-arterial switch procedure, 2 patients died during the perioperative period. The causes of death included serious cardiac arrhythmia with circulatory collapse and sudden death. The others were followed up for 2-8 years: 1 patient died from serious cardiac arrhythmias with circulatory collapse in the follow-up period. With regard to the others, 8 were evaluated as New York Heart Association Functional Class I, and the other 3 as Class II. Moderate aortic valve regurgitation was noted in 3 patients and moderate mitral regurgitation in 1 patient. CONCLUSIONS: For CCTGA children with degraded mLV, the two-stage double switch procedure can be performed with low mortality and morbidity and may be an appealing alternative to conventional repair. mLV retraining should be performed as early as possible. The second-stage atrial-arterial switch procedure showed satisfactory early and mid-term results. More attention should be paid to the long-term function of the mLV and the aortic valve.