External stenting for saphenous vein grafts reduces early postoperative graft failure.

Objectives: Multiple studies have shown that external stenting (ExSt) mitigates the progression of vein graft disease years after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). We used computed tomography to evaluate the effect of ExSt on perioperative vein graft patency.

Methods: This study assessed graft patency rates of saphenous vein grafts (SVG) in consecutive patients with isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) between 2018 and 2021. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to compare the outcomes of supported and non-supported groups at both patient and graft levels, with age, EuroSCORE II, gender, diabetes and arterial grafts as covariates. Subgroup analyses were performed based on different covariates. The goal of the study was to provide valuable insights into the clinical outcomes of SVG in patients having CABG.

Results: The study examined a total of 357 patients who met the inclusion criteria and evaluated 572 vein grafts. Of these, 150 patients (205 SVGs) received ExSt, whereas 207 patients (337 SVGs) did not receive ExSt. The study results indicated that the likelihood of overall SVG patency at discharge was higher in the stented group than in the non-stented group, both at the level of the grafts [93.8% vs 87.8%, odds ratio (OR) 2.1; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0-4.5; P = 0.05] and at the patient level (90.1% vs 83.5%, OR 1.8; 95% CI 0.9-3.6; P = 0.1). It is worth noting that the difference between the stented and non-stented groups was most significant in the subgroup that received 2 arterial grafts (96.5% vs 89.6%, OR 3.2; 95% CI 1.2-8.4; P = 0.02) and in the subgroup with a higher EuroSCORE II (median >1.1) (98.6% vs 88.6%, OR 8.8; 95% CI 1.1-72.7; P = 0.04).

Conclusions: The ExSt is associated with improved perioperative SVG patency at both the graft and the patient levels. Moreover, SVGs to the right territory and high-risk patients appear to have an advantage using ExSt.