Clinical outcome of arterial myocardial revascularization using bilateral internal thoracic arteries in diabetic patients: a single centre experience

The use of bilateral internal thoracic arteries (BITAs) grafting has been documented to be advantageous over left internal thoracic artery (LITA) grafting. It has been shown to significantly improve clinical outcomes and increase long-term survival in patients with diabetes. However, harvesting BITAs may result in a greater risk of superficial wound infection (SWI) or deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) and cardiovascular complications (major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events; MACCE) in such a patient group. The objective of this study was to compare the incidence of SWI or DSWI and cardiovascular events in a series of isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients who underwent BITA grafting vs LITA grafting.