PMID: 6407426Feb 1, 1983Paper

Noninvasive evaluation of aortocoronary bypass graft patency with tomodensitometry and exercise myocardial scintigraphy

Archives des maladies du coeur et des vaisseaux
J P UsdinP Vernant

Abstract

The control of the patency of aortocoronary bypass grafts necessitates further coronary angiography, an invasive investigation which is difficult to perform routinely because over 60 p. cent of operated patients are asymptomatic. Non-invasive methods have been proposed for this task, including computerised axial tomography (CAT) and exercise Thallium 201 myocardial scintigraphy (EMS). The aim of this study was to assess the relative value of CAT and EMS, alone and in association, in comparison with coronary angiography. Thirty six patients (35 men, 1 woman) with a mean age of 54 years were studied. These patients had a total of 59 bypass grafts inserted an average of 23 months before investigation (20 single, 10 double, 5 triple and 1 quadruple bypass grafts). CAT scanning was performed the day before coronary angiography. Sections of the thorax 7 mm thick were recorded after intravenous injection of contrast medium. A patent graft was identified as an opacity increasing after the injection of contrast on one of the aortic walls. During coronary angiography a graft was declared to be patent when it was opacified selectively or during aortography, and when the grafted coronary artery was seen to be revascularised. The quality of...Continue Reading

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