The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol 75, 625-631, Copyright © 1978 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Western Thoracic Surgical Association
The internal mammary bypass graft: a superior second coronary artery
JW Jones, JL Ochsner, NL Mills and L Hughes
In a study of the initial 1,004 consecutive patients who had direct
coronary artery bypass at Ochsner Medical Institutions, computer methods of
data processing were used to compare the clinical results between patients
who had saphenous vein (SV) grafts and those who had internal mammary
artery (IMA) grafts. The factors compared were the long-term mortality
rates, nonfatal myocardial infarction rates, relief or persistence of
angina, and the percentage of patients who acquired congestive heart
failure. A simple comparison showed the patients with IMA grafts did better
in all four categories; however, in a subsequent analysis in which
maldistributed factors were removed, the rates of anginal relief and
congestive heart failure were not significantly improved. The major benefit
appears to be an increase in longevity among patients who had IMA bypasses.