RAPS: Radial Artery Tops Saphenous Vein Graft

Fellow discussant Dr. Steven Bolling, a thoracic surgeon at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, said he expects the data will shift practice and increase utilization of the radial artery graft.

When asked about this point at a press conference, Dr. Fremes said that radial artery utilization varies by jurisdiction at about 20%, compared with more than 95% for the internal mammary artery. He noted that the evidence to date on radial artery grafts has been mixed and comes mainly from observational studies.

“The study we presented is the first multi-institutional, longitudinal, randomized comparison, so this is fairly unique data,” he said. “Hopefully, it will be persuasive.”