Outcomes of Isolated Reoperative Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting in Elderly Patients

Repeat Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: A Meta-Analysis of Off-Pump versus On-Pump Techniques in a Large Cohort of Patients

BACKGROUND

Redo coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) can be performed with either the off-pump (OPCAB) or the on-pump (ONCAB) technique.

METHOD

Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), this meta-analysis compared the safety and efficacy of OPCAB versus ONCAB redo CABG.

RESULTS

Twenty-three (23) eligible studies were included (OPCAB, n=2,085; ONCAB, n=3,245). Off-pump CABG significantly reduced the risk of perioperative death (defined as in-hospital or 30-day death rate), myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, and acute kidney injury. The two treatment approaches were comparable regarding 30-day stroke and late all-cause mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

Off-pump redo CABG resulted in lower perioperative death and periprocedural complication rates. No difference was observed in perioperative stroke rates and long-term survival between the two techniques.

Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting with Arterial Conduits in the Elderly

Although improved long-term outcomes obtained with the use of arterial grafts for coronary revascularization in comparison with the traditional association of a single arterial and saphenous vein grafts have been demonstrated in the overall population, the efficacy of this newer technique in the elderly is difficult to prove because their shorter life expectancy due to advanced heart disease, associated with severe comorbidities. Moreover, more widespread use of this technique is limited by the concerns on the potential morbidity, particularly the longer time required to perform the operation and the possibility of deep sternal wound infection in case of bilateral internal thoracic artery harvesting due to the decreased blood supply to the sternum and surrounding tissues.The review of the recent literature indicates that the use of bilateral internal thoracic arteries in very elderly patients should not be considered routinely. It seems reasonable to avoid it in octogenarians in the presence of well-known predictors of sternal complications such as diabetes, morbid obesity, and severe chronic lung disease.There is also still controversy about the superiority of the radial artery over the saphenous vein graft as a second or third conduit for surgical myocardial revascularization, although the majority of recent studies seem to support more liberal use of the radial artery as second arterial conduit in the elderly. Although a clinical benefit of arterial graft revascularization cannot be formally excluded for elderly patients, the increased complexity of this technique suggests that careful clinical judgment is necessary to select grafts for individual patients.

Coronary artery bypass grafting in octogenarians: only when percutaneous coronary intervention is not feasible?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The aim of this study was to review recent literature reporting the results of coronary revascularization by percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients older than 80 years.

RECENT FINDINGS

The review of recent studies on octogenarians demonstrates a surgical CABG advantage in the case of patients with increasing baseline coronary risk, such as severe multivessel disease, chronic total occlusions, and left ventricular dysfunction. PCI seems to be more appropriate for less severe degree and distribution of coronary lesions, and for subgroups of patients with higher surgical risk, such as acute coronary syndromes, reoperations, malignancy, dementia, poor mobility, frailty, and serious comorbidities contraindicating extracorporeal circulation.

SUMMARY

It is not the case that CABG is indicated only when there are contraindications to PCI. CABG confers more benefit than PCI in patients with increasing baseline cardiac risk, in the absence of serious systemic diseases that can reasonably reduce their life expectancy.CABG and PCI, with proper selection, should be considered complementary rather than competitive procedures in the therapy of octogenarians affected by coronary artery disease.