Early asymptomatic graft failure in coronary artery bypass grafting: a study based on computed tomography angiography analysis

BACKGROUND: Asymptomatic graft failure after coronary bypass grafting surgery (CABG) may have negative impact on the patients’ short- and long-term outcomes. Cardiac computed tomography angiography (CTA) has been proved to be another choice to detect graft failure besides coronary artery angiography in several studies. We aimed to identify the rate and predictors of asymptomatic graft failure detected by CTA before discharge. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 955 grafts of 346 consecutive asymptomatic patients who received CTA examination after CABGs were included in this retrospective study from July 2017 to Dec 2019. We divided 955 grafts into the patent group and occluded group by CTA results. Logistic regression model at graft-level were established to determine predictors of the early asymptomatic graft occlusion. The overall asymptomatic graft failure rate was 4.71% (45/955), and there was no difference between the arterial and venous conduits in different target territories (P > 0.05). The logistic regression at graft-level analysis showed that female (OR 3.181, CI 1.58–6.40, P = 0.001), composite grafting (OR 6.762, CI 2.26–20.28, P = 0.001), pulse index value (OR 1.180, CI 1.08–1.29, P < 0.001) and new postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) (OR2.348, CI 1.15–4.78, P = 0.018) were independent risk factors that affect graft failure, while early postoperative dual-antiplatelet treatment with aspirin and clopidogrel was a protective factor (OR 0.403, CI 0.19–0.84, P = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: Early asymptomatic graft failure is associated with both patient and surgical factors including female gender, high PI value, composite graft strategy and the new POAF. However, the early dual- antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel may be useful for preventing graft failure. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13019-023-02199-0.