Bilateral vs unilateral internal mammary revascularization in patients with left ventricular dysfunction

AIM: To investigate the survival benefit of bilateral internal mammary artery (BIMA) grafts in patients with left ventricular dysfunction. METHODS: Between 1996 and 2009, we performed elective, isolated, primary, multiple cardiac arterial bypass grafting in 430 consecutive patients with left ventricular ejection fraction ≤ 40%. The early and long-term results were compared between 167 patients undergoing BIMA grafting and 263 patients using left internal mammary artery (LIMA)-saphenous venous grafting (SVG). RESULTS: = 0.13) in comparison with LIMA-SVG use. CONCLUSION: Our longitudinal analysis suggests that BIMA grafting can be performed with acceptable perioperative mortality in patients with left ventricular dysfunction.