Radial Artery Versus Saphenous Vein Grafts in Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00054847
• Recruitment Status: Completed
• First Posted: February 13, 2003
• Results First Posted: March 14, 2014
• Last Update Posted: May 5, 2014
• Sponsor: US Department of Veterans Affairs
• Information provided by (Responsible Party): VA Office of Research and Development ( US Department of Veterans Affairs )

Study Description

Brief Summary:

VA patients with coronary artery disease and who have agreed to undergo coronary artery bypass graft surgery would be randomized to receive either radial artery or saphenous vein to the study vessel. The primary outcome variable is graft patency at one year.

Condition or disease	Intervention/treatment	Phase
Cardiovascular Disease; Coronary Artery Disease	Procedure: saphenous vein graft; Procedure: radial artery graft	Not Applicable

Detailed Description:

Primary Hypothesis:

Radial artery grafts will have a higher graft patency rate at one year after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) compared to saphenous vein grafts.

Secondary Hypotheses:

Determine if there are any differences in clinical outcomes, cost and quality of life in patients receiving radial artery versus saphenous vein grafts.

Intervention: 1) Saphenous vein graft. This is the standard conduit for coronary artery bypass grafting to all areas of the heart except the left anterior descending (LAD) artery. 2) Radial artery. This is the experimental conduit. Preference should be given to harvesting from the non-dominant arm.

Primary Outcomes: 1-year post CABG surgery patency rates

Study Abstract:

Although the radial artery was introduced as a potential conduit for coronary artery bypass grafting in the 1970s, enthusiasm for its use was limited by the technical difficulty of harvesting the vessel and problems with perioperative vascular spasm. In spite of this, some surgeons persisted based on their belief that arterial conduits would be better than vein grafts, in terms of long-term patency. With the development of new harvesting techniques and the introduction of calcium channel blockers to prevent vasospasm, the use of the radial artery graft has increased in recent years. This use of the radial artery as a conduit is not based on any long-term prospective data regarding its patency. However, because the VA has been a leader in defining the long-term efficacy/patency of saphenous vein and internal mammary grafts, it is appropriate for the VA to investigate radial artery grafts. In fact, the VA under its Cooperative Studies Program, is probably the only health care delivery system that has the ability to undertake this study.

Study Design:

The study is a prospective, randomized, unblinded clinical trial. The population consists of VA patients with coronary artery disease documented by coronary arteriography and who have agreed to undergo coronary artery bypass surgery. Medical conditions which could affect blood flow through the patient's arm are the main exclusion criteria. These include Raynaud's symptoms, positive Allen test, neurologic or musculoskeletal disease affecting the arm and patients with one arm.

Patients who are eligible and agree to participate in the study will be randomly assigned to receive one radial artery graft or one saphenous vein graft to the following vessels: left anterior descending if internal mammary not used, circumflex, diagonal, and right coronary artery. The surgeon will determine the subject vessel preoperatively by selecting the vessel that is suitable for grafting.

The stratification factors will be the participating hospital and which vessel is to be bypassed, left anterior descending versus all other vessels.

History, physical examination, laboratory tests, and cardiac catheterization will be performed at baseline and at one year. Follow-up clinic visits will be at two weeks, three, six, and nine months post CABG. Coronary angiography will be performed one week and one year post surgery. Quality of life and hand/leg functional status will be assessed at baseline, three months, and one year. Cost measures will be captured.

Biostatistical Considerations:

For this trial, a sample size of 874 randomized patients will be required. This will provide 90% power to detect a difference in one-year patency rates of 92% for the radial artery versus 83% for the saphenous vein and an expected one-year catheter completion rate of 65%.

This is a five year study. There will be four years of patient accrual and one year of follow-up. Nine participating VA medical centers will be expected to randomize two patients per month.

Study Design

• Study Type: Interventional (Clinical Trial)
• Actual Enrollment: 733 participants
• Allocation: Randomized
• Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Official Title: CSP #474 - Radial Artery vs. Saphenous Vein Grafts in Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery (Radial Artery)
• Study Start Date: February 2003
• Actual Primary Completion Date: February 2009
• Actual Study Completion Date: February 2010

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/treatment
Active Comparator: Saphenous Vein Graft; Saphenous Vein Graft	Procedure: saphenous vein graft; Saphenous vein harvested from the arm is used as a conduit for CABG.
Active Comparator: Radial Artery Graft; Radial Artery Graft	Procedure: radial artery graft; Radial artery harvested from the arm is used as a conduit for CABG.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures :

1. To Compare 1-year Angiographic Patency of Radial Artery Grafts Versus Saphenous Vein Grafts in Patients Undergoing Elective Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Surgery. [ Time Frame: 1 year ]
   The primary end point was angiographic graft patency at 1 year after coronary artery bypass surgery, defined as any opacification of distal target by injection of the graft. The window for the 1-year angiogram was 2 to 24 months. This window was chosen to capture early clinically indicated angiograms and late selective angiograms in patients who did not have symptoms. Study grafts that were occluded at 1 week after coronary artery bypass graft surgery were considered occluded at 1 year. One-year graft patency data were missing if patients whose study grafts were patent at 1 week did not undergo an angiogram within the time window or if the central angiography laboratory was not able to determine graft patency.

Secondary Outcome Measures :

1. Death [ Time Frame: Within 1 year of surgery. ]
2. Myocardial Infarction [ Time Frame: Within 1 year of bypass surgery ]
3. Stroke [ Time Frame: Within 1 year of bypass surgery ]

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child, Adult, Older Adult
• Sexes Eligible for Study: All
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients needing coronary artery bypass grafts.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who require only a single vessel bypass and in whom the internal mammary artery will be used for that graft
• Patients with previous stripping and ligation of saphenous veins and in whom no venous conduit is available for bypass
• Patients with Raynaud's symptoms
• Patients who have a creatinine above 2.0 mg/dL or require hemodialysis
• Patients with a positive Allen test
• Patients with cardiogenic shock
• Patients who are unable to give consent
• Patients allergic to contrast material
• Patients undergoing repeat CABG or any form of robotic surgery
• Patients who do not have full use of both arms
• Patients who are pregnant
• Patients with neurologic or musculoskeletal disease affecting the arm
• Patients who refuse to participate
• Patient requires any concomitant valve operation in the mitral, aortic, or pulmonary position. Isolated tricuspid annuloplasty is acceptable, but tricuspid valve replacement excludes the patient from consideration.
• Patient requires concomitant Dor or Maze procedure
• Patient is in another research study
• No suitable radial target (there is no non-LAD vessel with a >70% stenosis)

Contacts and Locations

Locations

United States, Alabama

VA Medical Center, Birmingham

Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 35233

United States, Arizona

Southern Arizona VA Health Care System

Tucson, Arizona, United States, 85723

United States, Arkansas

Central Arkansas VHS Eugene J. Towbin Healthcare Ctr, Little Rock

No. Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, 72114-1706

United States, Illinois

Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital

Hines, Illinois, United States, 60141-5000

United States, Louisiana

Southeast Veterans Healthcare System, New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, 70112

United States, Massachusetts

VA Boston Healthcare System, Brockton Campus

Brockton, Massachusetts, United States, 02301

United States, Michigan

VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 48113

United States, Minnesota

VA Medical Center, Minneapolis

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55417

United States, New Mexico

New Mexico VA Health Care System, Albuquerque

Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States, 87108-5153

United States, Texas

Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (152)

Houston, Texas, United States, 77030

United States, Virginia

Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center

Richmond, Virginia, United States, 23249

Sponsors and Collaborators

US Department of Veterans Affairs

Investigators

• Study Chair: Steven Goldman, MD; Southern Arizona VA Health Care System

More Information

Publications of Results:

Mudumbai SC, Wagner T, Mahajan S, King R, Heidenreich PA, Hlatky M, Wallace A, Mariano ER. Vascular surgery patients prescribed preoperative β-blockers experienced a decrease in the maximal heart rate observed during induction of general anesthesia. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2012 Jun;26(3):414-9. doi: 10.1053/j.jvca.2011.09.027. Epub 2011 Dec 3.

Sinnott PL, Siroka AM, Shane AC, Trafton JA, Wagner TH. Identifying neck and back pain in administrative data: defining the right cohort. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2012 May 1;37(10):860-74. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e3182376508. Review.

Yoon J, Scott JY, Phibbs CS, Wagner TH. Recent trends in Veterans Affairs chronic condition spending. Popul Health Manag. 2011 Dec;14(6):293-8. doi: 10.1089/pop.2010.0079. Epub 2011 Nov 1.

McKellar J, Wagner T, Harris A, Oehlert M, Buckley S, Moos R. One-year outcomes of telephone case monitoring for patients with substance use disorder. Addict Behav. 2012 Oct;37(10):1069-74. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.03.009. Epub 2012 Mar 13.

Bakaeen FG, Sethi G, Wagner TH, Kelly R, Lee K, Upadhyay A, Thai H, Juneman E, Goldman S, Holman WL. Coronary artery bypass graft patency: residents versus attending surgeons. Ann Thorac Surg. 2012 Aug;94(2):482-8; discussion 488. doi: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2012.04.039. Epub 2012 Jun 13.

Goldman S, Sethi GK, Holman W, Thai H, McFalls E, Ward HB, Kelly RF, Rhenman B, Tobler GH, Bakaeen FG, Huh J, Soltero E, Moursi M, Haime M, Crittenden M, Kasirajan V, Ratliff M, Pett S, Irimpen A, Gunnar W, Thomas D, Fremes S, Moritz T, Reda D, Harrison L, Wagner TH, Wang Y, Planting L, Miller M, Rodriguez Y, Juneman E, Morrison D, Pierce MK, Kreamer S, Shih MC, Lee K. Radial artery grafts vs saphenous vein grafts in coronary artery bypass surgery: a randomized trial. JAMA. 2011 Jan 12;305(2):167-74. doi: 10.1001/jama.2010.1976.

Wagner TH, Holman W, Lee K, Sethi G, Ananth L, Thai H, Goldman S. The generalizability of participants in Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program 474, a multi-site randomized cardiac bypass surgery trial. Contemp Clin Trials. 2011 Mar;32(2):260-6. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2010.11.008. Epub 2010 Nov 13.

Humphreys K, Wagner TH, Gage M. If substance use disorder treatment more than offsets its costs, why don't more medical centers want to provide it? A budget impact analysis in the Veterans Health Administration. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2011 Oct;41(3):243-51. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2011.04.006. Epub 2011 Jun 12.

Wagner TH, Sethi G, Holman W, Lee K, Bakaeen FG, Upadhyay A, McFalls E, Tobler HG, Kelly RF, Crittenden MD, Thai H, Goldman S. Costs and quality of life associated with radial artery and saphenous vein cardiac bypass surgery: results from a Veterans Affairs multisite trial. Am J Surg. 2011 Nov;202(5):532-5. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2011.06.011. Epub 2011 Aug 26.

• Responsible Party: US Department of Veterans Affairs
• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00054847
• Other Study ID Numbers: 474
• First Posted: February 13, 2003
• Results First Posted: March 14, 2014
• Last Update Posted: May 5, 2014
• Last Verified: April 2014

Keywords provided by VA Office of Research and Development ( US Department of Veterans Affairs ):

CABG; cardiovascular; chronic diseases; clinical trial; heart; multi-site trial; prospective

Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Cardiovascular Diseases; Coronary Artery Disease; Coronary Disease; Myocardial Ischemia; Heart Diseases; Arteriosclerosis; Arterial Occlusive Diseases; Vascular Diseases