On the other hand, bilateral IMA grafting appears to be associated with an increased incidence of sternal wound infections in patients with diabetes mellitus and those who are obese (body mass ). 2.1.4.3. Radial, Gastroepiploic, and Inferior Epigastric Arteries Ever since the observation that IMAs are superior to SVGs in decreasing the occurrence of ischemic events and prolonging survival, other arterial conduits, such as the radial, gastroepi- ploic, and inferior epigastric arteries, have been used in an attempt to improve the results of CABG. Information about these other arterial conduits is sparse in comparison to what is known about IMAs and SVGs, however. The radial artery is a muscular artery that is susceptible to spasm and atrophy when used to graft a coronary artery that is not severely narrowed. Radial artery graft patency is best when used to graft a left-sided coronary artery with 70% stenosis and worst when it is used to bypass the right coronary artery with a stenosis of only moderate severity.96 100 The gastroepiploic artery is most often used to bypass the right coronary artery or its branches, although it may be used to bypass the LAD artery if the length of the gastroepiploic artery is adequate. Similar to the radial artery, it is prone to spasm and therefore should only be used to bypass coronary arteries that are severely stenotic.131 The 1-, 5-, and 10-year patency rates of the gastroepiploic artery are reportedly 91%, The inferior epigastric artery is only 8 to 10 centimeters in length and therefore is usually used as a Y or T graft connected to another arterial conduit. On occasion it is used as a free graft from the aorta to a high diagonal branch of the LAD artery. 