Worldwide Trends in Multi-arterial Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery 2004-2014: A Tale of 2 Continents.

Recent evidence shows that multi-arterial coronary artery bypass grafting (MABG) based on bilateral internal thoracic (BITA) or left internal thoracic (LITA) and radial artery (RA) improves long-term outcomes compared with single arterial coronary artery bypass grafting (SABG) (LITA + saphenous vein graft). How this evidence affected the worldwide use of MABG, if at all, is not well defined. Accordingly, we report 10-year temporal trends of MABG utilization from 2 continents. A study population of 1,683,434 non-emergent, primary, isolated LITA-based coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) (≥2 grafts) patients was derived from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) (1,307,528 (79.5%) of 1,644,388 isolated CABG; total 1179 centers) and the Australia New Zealand Cardiothoracic (ANZ) Databases (34,213 (87%) of 39,046 isolated CABG; 24 centers) between 2004 and 2014. Patients were excluded based on the following: (1) no LITA, (2) if arterial grafts were other than RA or ITA, or (3) if grafting data were missing. The 3 MABG groups were LITA + RA, BITA, and BITA + RA, each with or without supplemental vein grafts. Grafting trends and their associated patient demographics were analyzed. SABG (89.3% STS, 51.4% ANZ) was the most common grafting strategy. MABG was most frequently accomplished by LITA + RA: (STS: 6.1%; ANZ: 42.6%), followed by BITA: (STS: 4.1%; ANZ: 4.3%), while ≥3 (BITA + RA) was rare in the STS (0.5%), but more common in ANZ (5.9%). In the STS, between 2004 and 2014, SABG rates systematically increased from 85.2% to 91.7%, BITA grafting was essentially unchanged from 3.6% to 4.3%, while RA use decreased systematically from 10.5% to 3.7%. In the ANZ, SABG rates increased from 17.3% to 51.4%, BITA grafting decreased from 6.3% to 3.6%, while RA grafting decreased from 65.8% to 39.0%. Compared with SABG patients, BITA patients were younger (STS: median age 59 vs 66, P < 0.001; ANZ: mean age 62 vs 68, P < 0.001), predominately male (STS: 84% vs 73%, P < 0.001; ANZ: 86% vs 79%, P < 0.001), less obese (body mass index >30 kg/m) in STS (37% vs 42%, P < 0.001), more obese in ANZ (33% vs 32%, P = 0.001), and less diabetic (STS: 26% vs 43%, P < 0.001; ANZ: 25% vs 37%, P < 0.001), whereas RA patients were intermediate in age (STS: 61; ANZ: 65), in male sex (STS: 82%; ANZ: 81%), in the prevalence of diabetes (STS: 40%; ANZ: 34%), and were most obese (STS: 47%; ANZ: 34%). A decade-long analysis of STS data reveals a counterintuitive decline in the use (driven by decreasing RA use) of MABG: a potentially superior grafting strategy compared with SABG. In contra distinction, the smaller but growing ANZ data document a distinctly different CABG practice pattern, with a higher MABG utilization rate, but a similarly declining RA use. The reasons for these practice patterns and declining MABG are likely diverse and require further assessment.