Intraoperative left mamarian artery flow measurement in elderly patients [Yaşlı hastalarda operasyon sırasında sol mammarian arter akımının ölçülmesi]

Aim: The elderly are a continuously growing subgroup in Western society. Therefore, increasing numbers of elderly patients are being referred for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. The left internal mammary artery (LIMA) grafting technique performed during CABG surgery has been shown to result in better early patency and improved survival rate. In the present study, the LIMA blood flow was measured independently from other components in a group of patients above 75 years of age. Additionally, we examined if there was significant difference between the LIMA blood flow rate of this and other age groups. Material and Method: Between March 2010 and November 2013, primary CABG was performed in 84 consecutive patients. Patients were divided into three groups as follows: Group I, 60? years; Group II, 60–75 years; Group III, ?75 years. For the comparison of LIMA blood flow rates, the patients were further divided into subgroups as those who were actively engaged in athletic activities, diabetics, non-diabetics, males, and females. Results: The LIMA blood flow rate measured in the three groups had the following values: Group I, 83.7 ± 12.4 mL/min; Group II, 79.5 ± 13.4 mL/min; Group III, 78.6 ± 10.6 mL/min (P?0.76). Mean blood flow was 84.6 ± 14.8 mL/ min in males, 76.8 ± 9.4 mL/min (P?0.05) in females, 76.4 ± 12.4 mL/min in diabetics, 86.6 ± 12.8 mL/min (P?0.05) in non-diabetics, 88.6 ± 14.2 mL/min in patients actively engaged in athletic activities, and 78.3 ± 11.3 mL/min (P?0.05) in patients who were not engaged in athletic activities. Discussion: There was no statistically significant difference between the LIMA blood flow rates of elderly patients and that of other patient groups. Therefore, arterial grafting could be widely used in elderly patients. © 2016, Journal of Clinical and Analytical Medicine. All rights reserved