Transit-time flowmetry measurement features of coronary bypass grafts after multiple percutaneous coronary interventions

The functionality of coronary bypass grafts after surgical myocardial revascularization in patients with coronary heart disease directly depends on the state of the target coronary arteries. In the presence of widespread and diff use atherosclerotic lesions or microcirculatory dysfunctions, a high frequency of coronary bypass dysfunctions is noted in the near future. In some cases, shunt dysfunction can lead to severe hemodynamic instability, accompanied by acute circulatory disorders.Aim: To assess the function of coronary bypass grafts during myocardial revascularization using the method of ultrasonic flowmetry in patients with and without a history of multiple percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI).Material and methods. The retrospective study included 47 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery. A total of 145 coronary bypass grafts were performed. All patients were divided into 2 groups. Group 1 (PCI group) included patients after multiple previous PCI (n = 25; 74 coronary bypass grafts), group 2 (without PCI) included patients without previous PCI (n = 22; 71 coronary bypass grafts). All patients underwent intraoperative ultrasonic flowmetry of coronary bypass grafts using the VeriQ system (Medistim, Norway).Results. When analyzing the status of coronary bypass grafts in patients after multiple PCI, a significantly low mean volumetric blood flow rate was noted (29.5 ± 8.3 ml/min and 48.2 ± 11.6 ml/min, respectively, p = 0.0001) and lower diastolic filling (55.2 ± 8.2% and 71.9 ± 7.1%, p = 0.0001). Also in the group of patients after multiple PCI, there were 2 (2.7%) cases of revision of the distal anastomosis due to a high pulsatile index and low volumetric blood flow velocity. However, no such events were noted in the group without PCI.Conclusions. Previous percutaneous coronary interventions are compromising factors for the state of the coronary bed, which reduces the functional status of coronary bypass grafts and may increase the perioperative risk of surgical myocardial revascularization.