Sex Difference in Mid-Term Patency of Arterial and Venous Grafts after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery in Asymptomatic Patients

Background: The aim of this study was to compare the sex difference in patency rates of left internal thoracic artery (LITA), radial artery (RA), and saphenous vein (SV) grafts in asymptomatic patients after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) after 2-5 years follow up period. Method: We assessed thirty patients with three-vessel coronary artery disease including 104 LITA, RA, and SV grafts concomitantly used for isolated elective CABG surgery. The primary end point was rates of graft patency in both men and women. After 2-5 years follow-up, graft patency was assessed by 128-slice, dual-source CT coronary angiography. Result: There were 21 men and 9 women in this study. A total of 104 grafts, including 30 LITA, 44 SV, and 30 RA grafts, were studied. Total graft patency rate was 84/104 (80.8%). Graft patency rate in men was 64/78 (82.1%) and in women was 20/26 (76.9%; p=0.774). LITA graft patency rates were 20/21(95.2%) in men and 8/9 (88.9%) in women (p=1.000). Patency rates in RA were 21/22 (95.5%) and 4/8 (50%; p=0.016), and patency in SV were 22/34 (64.7%) in men and 9/10 (90%) in women (p=0.251), respectively. Conclusion: This study revealed that in asymptomatic patients who underwent CABG surgery 2-5 years ago there is a statistically significant lower RA patency rate in women compared with men. We didn’t find any difference in LITA or SV grafts patency rates between men and women in mid-term follow up.