A randomised study comparing Vein Integrity and Clinical Outcomes (VICO) in open vein harvesting and two types of endoscopic vein harvesting for coronary artery bypass grafting.

Abstract

Background:Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) surgery is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures to improve the symptoms of coronary artery disease. The Long Saphenous Vein (LSV) is typically used as a graft to bypass the blocked coronary arteries. The traditional way of harvesting the LSV is to make a long skin incision in the patient's leg. This technique has a high rate of incidence of wound complications and postoperative pain and poorer patient satisfaction. Endoscopic Vein Harvesting (EVH) techniques, introduced more than a decade ago, reduce these complications and improve quality of life. Findings regarding the safety and efficacy of EVH techniques and the quality of the vessel harvested by this technique are contradictory. Adoption of EVH techniques is still inconsistent globally and it is not completely accepted by all cardiac centres. Many studies are available in the literature measuring either histological outcome or clinical outcome in relation to different harvesting techniques. However, there remains no definitive randomised data available directly correlating harvesting-induced vein damage with clinical outcome.The aim of this Vein Integrity and Clinical Outcome (VICO) randomised trial was designed to assess the direct relationship between the histological damage caused during different methods of vein harvesting and clinical outcome post coronary artery bypass surgery. Methods:100 patients were randomised in each group: Group 1 consists of closed tunnel CO2 endoscopic vein harvesting (EVH) (CT-EVH) and Group 2 consists of open tunnel CO2 EVH (OT-EVH) with the control Group 3 consists of standard open vein harvesting (OVH) with a total of 300 patients in this study. All the veins were harvested by an experienced practitioner who has performed >2000 OVH and >250 EVH. 1cm x 3 segments from three different parts of the vein were obtained for all patients (n=900). The histological levels of damage (endothelial and muscular layers) of the harvested vein and post clinical outcome for Major Adverse Cardiac Events (MACE) were measured using validated measuring tools. Health economic (cost effectiveness, EQ-5D) and health-related quality of life (SF-36) data were also recorded to assess the impact of these surgical techniques.Results:The level of endothelial disruption was greatest in the OT-EVH group in the proximal, distal and random samples (all p

Date of Award	1 Aug 2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Ann-Louise Caress (Supervisor), Nizar Yonan (Supervisor), James Fildes (Supervisor) & Nicola Cullum (Supervisor)