Internal thoracic artery graft ipsilateral to the arteriovenous fistula in haemodialysis patients

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of in situ internal thoracic artery (ITA) grafting ipsilateral to the arteriovenous fistula (AVF) on postoperative outcomes in haemodialysis patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). METHODS: We reviewed 132 haemodialysis patients who underwent isolated CABG between January 2002 and December 2019. With a difference between the left and right upper arms blood pressure measurement of >20 mmHg, we did not use the ITA on the lower value side. We categorized patients into 55 patients (41.7%, ipsilateral group) whose left anterior descending artery was revascularized using the in situ ITA ipsilateral to the AVF, and 77 patients (58.3%, contralateral group) whose left anterior descending artery was revascularized using the ITA opposite the AVF. We compared patients' postoperative outcomes after adjusting for their backgrounds using weighted logistic regression analysis and inverse probability of treatment weighting. RESULTS: No patients developed coronary steal postoperatively, and there was no significant difference in 30-day mortality between the groups (P=0.353). The adjusted 5-year estimated rates of freedom from all-cause and cardiac death in the ipsilateral vs contralateral groups were 52.3% vs 54.0% and 78.2% vs 88.6%, respectively; survival curves were not statistically significantly different (P= 0.762 and P= 0.229, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: In situ ITA grafting ipsilateral to the AVF was not associated with postoperative early and mid-term worse outcomes in haemodialysis patients undergoing isolated CABG.