PERCUTANEOUS TREATMENT OF DISEASED SAPHENOUS VEIN GRAFTS: CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-ART AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The treatment of patients with obstructive atherosclerot-ic disease in diseased coronary saphenous vein bypass grafts still remains a challenge in cardiology and cardiac surgery. Within 10 years after surgery, half of all the saphenous vein grafts (SVG) have significant atheroscle-rotic disease(1,2), and this condition often leads patients to suffer from severe anginal symptoms, despite optimal pharmacological therapy. Thus, options to improve the clinical status of these patients are strongly required. Currently, the two available revascularization alternatives in case of SVG disease include either percutaneous coro-nary intervention (PCI) or repeat coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery: PCI is the preferred method of treating patients with SVG lesions, due to a significantly higher risk inherent in the Re-Do intervention by mean