The radial artery as a conduit for coronary artery bypass grafting: review of current knowledge

The effect of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) lasts as long as the grafts are patent. The internal mammary artery has been con- sidered the “golden” graft due to the superb long-term patency, exceeding 90% at 10 years. The saphenous vein grafts, unfortunately, tend to occlude with a rate of 10-15% within a year after surgery, and eventually, at 10 years after the operation, as much as 60-70% of these vein grafts are either occluded or have angiographic evidence of atherosclerosis. The search for another “arterial conduit”, the ra- dial artery, has intensified through the last 15 years in hope to provide a better graft than the saphenous vein for CABG. This article revi- ews the current knowledge for the radial artery as a conduit in CABG.