Chest Artery Proves Superior for Bypasses
--Compiled from staff and wire service reports
Heart surgeons commonly use a vein removed from the patient’s leg when performing the coronary bypass operation. But a study at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation of 6,000 patients has demonstrated the superiority of using a blood vessel in the chest called the internal mammary artery instead of the leg vein, according to Dr. Delos M. Cosgrove III.
The difference became apparent as early as three years after surgery when the leg veins began to clog, the study showed. At 10 years, one-fourth of the leg vein grafts were closed while 96%of the chest artery bypasses were still free of dangerous fatty deposits.
Foundation heart surgeons, who have performed more than 20,000 internal mammary artery grafts, now use that vessel routinely, Cosgrove said.
