Preoperative aspirin therapy does not seem to influence the operative outcome of isolated CABG. Therefore, the often given recommendation to stop this therapy prior to elective CABG procedures should be abandoned.

No abstract

The formula reliably determines the minimum required conduit length. We recommend this formula for preoperative decision making when considering the choice of graft and the length of RIMA harvesting. To facilitate calculation a simplified version is useful: 2 x EDD + 4 x WD + 1. Avoiding uncertainty about the sufficiency of the RIMA length may contribute to the spread of this technique.

Radial artery grafts compared to saphenous vein grafts do not show significant differences early after operation in mean blood flow or pulsatility index. Further studies are needed to evaluate long-term performance of radial arteries as coronary bypass grafts and to compare the radial artery to the right mammarian artery and the standard saphenous vein graft.

No abstract