MATERIAL AND METHODS: From January 1996 to July 1999, the right gastroepiploic artery (RGA) has been used for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in 26 patients (25 male, average age 55.2 years). The surgery was indicated in patients with occlusion or critical coronary disease in the right coronary artery, in the anterior descending coronary artery and in branches of the circumflex coronary artery. Some 15 (57.8%) patients had stable angina, 10 (38.4%) had unstable angina and one of them had no clinical signs. There were 5 (19.2%) reoperations, 2 of them were second reoperations. CABG was used in 24 patients; normothermic in 18 and hypothermic in six. Two, 5 and 19 patients had coronary artery disease in one, two and three vessels respectively. RGA was used "in situ" in 24 patients and as a graft in 3 to the anterior descending coronary artery, 11 to the right posterior descending coronary artery, 8 to the right coronary artery, 1 to the right posterior ventricular coronary artery and 1 to the descending posterior vessel of the circumflex coronary artery and as a free graft revascularized the coronary diagonal in 2. The left and the right internal thoracic artery, the left radial artery and the saphenous vein graft were used concomitantly. RESULTS: Postoperative angiography was performed in 12 (46.7%) patients, in 10 (83.4%) of them the RGA was patent, in 1 it was impossible to catheterize the celiac trunk, hence the flow could not be evaluated and in the other patient the graft was occluded. There were no deaths and all patients had an excellent outcome. CONCLUSION: The RGA is a safe graft for CABG.
Myocardial revascularization; Thoracic arteries; Stomach
