This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Georgios P. Georghiou Bernardo A. Vidne Joel Dunning Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Georghiou, G. P. Articles by Dunning, J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Georghiou, G. P. Articles by Dunning, J. Related Collections Cardiac - other Coronary disease

Does the radial artery provide better long-term patency than the saphenous vein?

^a Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Petah Tiqva 49 100, Israel
^b Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
^c Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, UK

*Corresponding author. Tel.: +972-3-937-6701; fax: +972-3-924-0762.

E-mail address: georgios{at}clalit.org.il (G.P. Georghiou).

A best evidence topic in cardiac surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was whether the radial artery provides better long-term patency than the saphenous vein. Altogether 379 papers were found using the reported search, of which 12 presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The authors, journal, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes and results of these papers are tabulated. We concluded that there is evidence that radial artery grafts have a higher rate of patency than saphenous vein grafts. Surgeons can confidently use the radial artery as a second arterial bypass graft, particularly in patients with severe native-vessel stenosis.

Key Words: Evidence-based medicine; Radial artery; Thoracic surgery; Review

This article has been cited by other articles:

				B. F. Buxton, S. Seevanayagam, and R. Kaiche Use of radial artery for coronary revascularization MMCTS, February 19, 2007; 2007(0219): 1701. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. J. Gardner Searching for the Second-Best Coronary Artery Bypass Graft: Is It the Radial Artery? Circulation, February 13, 2007; 115(6): 678 - 680. [Full Text] [PDF]