Academic Editors: Francesco Formica, Francesco Nicolini and Alan Gallingani
Background: The benefits of utilizing internal thoracic arteries (ITAs)
in coronary bypass surgery are well-known. However, the safety of this practice
in elderly patients needs to be proven. Methods: We studied all patients
who are 75 years of age and older, who received at least one ITA graft while
undergoing isolated, conventional (median sternotomy) coronary artery bypass
graft surgery (CABG) between Jan 1st 2002 and Dec 31st 2020 (19 years). Emergent
surgeries were excluded. Propensity score matching was used to reduce the patient
selection effect. Study outcomes were 30-days mortality, and two sets of
dependent intraoperative parameters and postoperative parameters.
Results: A total of 1855 patients undergoing CABG was included, of which
1114 received a single left (s)ITA and 741 received combined left and right
(d)ITA grafts. 519 pairs were matched. The decision for sITA or dITA was made
individually. Thirty-days mortality was low and similar in both groups (sITA
3.3%; dITA 2.9%, p = 0.859). The incidence of sternal wound healing
disorder was higher after dITA (3.3 vs 6.9%; p