Changing Trend in Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common pathology encountered by cardiologists and cardiac surgeons in the past century. Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery is the standard procedure for treatment of advanced coronary artery disease. This surgical technique was initially introduced by Favaloro and colleagues in 1969 using saphenous vein grafts interposed between aorta and epicardial coronary artery branches distal to critical stenosis(1).Nowadays, conventional CABG surgery utilizes a combination of left internal mammary artery (LIMA), saphenous vein and radial artery as conduits. But saphenous vein grafts are limited by its poor long term patency and additional arterial grafts like right internal mammary artery (RIMA), radial\ artery, right gastroepiploic artery (RGEA) and inferior epigastric artery (IEA) are being increasingly used to avoid late complications of vein graft atherosclerosis and restenosis.