International trends in radial artery usage for coronary artery bypass grafting.

Overview

AIMS: The study aimed to investigate international trends in the adoption of the radial artery (RA) as a conduit for coronary artery bypass grafting across different national and regional registries. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data were extracted from four databases: the UK cardiac surgery database, the Ontario provincial administrative database, the Austrian national adult cardiac surgery database, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (STS ACSD). Radial artery use rates were 4.3% in the UK, 23.3% in Ontario, 4.8% in Austria, and 6.4% in the STS ACSD. Significant uptrends in RA use were observed in Ontario (P = 0.001), Austria (P = 0.004), and the STS ACSD (P = 0.02), while a downtrend was noted in the UK (P = 0.015). Endoscopic RA harvesting was increasingly adopted, particularly in Ontario and the STS ACSD. CONCLUSION: Global adoption of RA remains variable and generally low with a general uptrend and higher adoption of endoscopic harvesting.