The use of all arterial conduits for coronary artery bypass graft has become more acceptable after gaining experiences and reports of better long-term results. The most common utilized conduits are the left internal mammary artery ( LIMA ) from chest wall, the right internal mammary artery ( RIMA ), the left or right radial artery ( RA ) from forearm and gastro-epiploic artery (GEA ) from the stomach. The use of LIMA to the left anterior descending artery (LAD ) has been shown to significantly improve long-term survival results. Also, the evidence shows that both mammary arteries could provide better long-term outcomes as well.
The long-term results have shown that the 10 year patency rates of the internal mammary artery are about 90-95% comparing to the 10 year patency rate of the vein graft which is about 60%. The 10 year patency rate of the radial artery and gastro-epiploic arteries are about 85% and 80% respectively.
In our practice, the saphenous veins ( veins from leg ) are rarely used unless the arterial conduits are not readily available.
