Aim. To compare patency of aortocoronary bypass grafts in remote period after endoscopic and conventional (open) great saphenous vein harvesting. To analyze the patency of aortocoronary bypass grafts after endoscopic vein harvesting from calf and thigh.Methods. The study involved 170 patients who underwent elective isolated coronary artery bypass grafting. Treatment results were evaluated in two prospectively formed groups: endoscopic (85 patients) and open (85 people) vein harvesting. Endoscopic vein harvesting was performed both from the calf and from the thigh through popliteal access using endoscopic system Vasoview 6.0. Patency of autovenous aortocoronary grafts was studied in 2.6±1.17 years after surgery using 64-slice contrast-enhanced MDCT or traditional angiography. Angiographic follow-up covered 76 patients with endoscopic vein harvesting and 79 patients with open vein harvesting.Results. The studied groups did not differ in the frequency of detection of occluded, stenotic and fully patent autovenous aortocoronary bypass grafts (p=0.841). In endoscopic vein harvesting group frequency of autovenous aortocoronary bypass grafts occlusion was 25.7%, in the group of open vein harvesting - 25.1% (p=0.984). There was no difference in the patency of internal thoracic artery grafts to the left anterior descending artery (p=0.227), and freedom from adverse cardiac events (p=0.342). Occlusion of autovenous grafts after endoscopic harvesting from the calf developed less frequently than after endoscopic harvesting from the thigh (15.1 vs. 34.6%; p=0.013). Grafts after endoscopic harvesting in the knee region occluded most often (41.9%). Patency of aortocoronary bypass grafts after open vein harvesting was not dependent on the area of the vein harvesting (p=0.900).Conclusion. Endoscopic vein harvesting does not compromise the patency of aortocoronary bypass graft and does not increase the risk of its occlusion; endoscopic harvesting of the veins from the calf improves indicators of aortocoronary grafts patency and reduces the risk of graft failure (odds ratio 0.3; 95% confidence interval 0.14-0.8; p = 0.013).

The greater saphenous vein is the most available and frequently used conduit for coronary artery bypass grafting. Conventional (open) vein harvesting procedure requires the longitudinal skin and subcutaneous fat incision along the full conduit length. Endoscopic vein harvesting has been developed in the middle-1990s as less invasive alternative for open vein harvesting. Using this novel technique allows to harvest the whole greater saphenous vein through 3 cm long skin incision. The article reviews the history, the role and current status of endoscopic vein harvesting in coronary artery bypass surgery. Literature data of the impact of that minimally invasive approach on infective and non-infective leg wound complications, as well as postoperative pain, patient satisfaction and live quality are presented. The cost-effectiveness data of the method, resulting in reduction of treatment costs of leg wound complications both at the hospital and after patient’s discharge are mentioned. The influence of endoscopic vein harvesting on morphologic and functional conduit quality is discussed. Special attention is devoted to mid- and long-term outcomes after coronary artery bypass surgery with endoscopic vein harvesting. The majority of research including angiographic control gives evidence of comparable parameters of bypass patency after the conventional vein harvesting and endoscopic vein harvesting procedures. Recent multicenter trials showed no statistically significant differences between the conventional vein harvesting and endoscopic vein harvesting procedures in such indirect graft patency indicators as mortality, myocardial infarction rate, need for repeated revascularization and recurrence of angina pectoris. Recent findings advocate safety and clinical effectiveness of endoscopic vein harvesting.