Internal mammary artery grafting to the left anterior descending artery gives higher long-term patency and improved survival as compared with venous grafts. Few data exist on the operative mortality and infarction rate in coronary artery bypass surgery when using this type of graft in high-risk groups, such as patients with left main stenosis. In 19 months, we studied 81 consecutive patients with left main stenosis who received a mammary artery graft to the left anterior descending artery as well as vein grafts to other vessels and found no excessive mortality or infarction rate. We suggest that patients with left main stenosis should be treated with an internal mammary artery graft.
Adult Aged