The probability of closure in aortocoronary vein bypass grafts.

Overview

A study of 540 patients who had the aortocoronary vein bypass operation (from several transplant teams) showed that grafts within a patient closed independently of one another during the first-two year postoperative period. For patients with a single vein graft, there was a 23% chance of closure during the first two year postoperative period. The chance that all grafts would close during this period for patients with two grafts was 5%, and it was 1% for patients with three grafts. The knowledge of these closure probabilities may be used by the surgeon when planning the optimal surgical maneuver.