Background
Saphenous vein grafts (SVG) are the most commonly used conduits in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Graft failure is observed in up to 50% of SVG at 10 years after surgery. Whether a difference in SVG patency rates exists between men and women remains unclear.
Methods
We performed a study‐level meta‐analysis to evaluate sex‐related differences in follow‐up patency rates of SVG after CABG. A systematic literature search was conducted to identify studies on CABG that reported follow‐up SVG patency rates in men and women. The primary outcome was SVG patency rates by sex at follow‐up.
Results
Seventeen studies totaling 8235 patients and 14,781 SVG grafts were included. There was no significant difference in follow‐up SVG patency rates between men and women (incidence rate ratio 0.96, 95% confidence interval 0.90−1.03, p = .24), with mean angiographic follow‐up of 33.5 months (standard deviation 29.2). Leave‐one‐out and cumulative analysis were consistent with the main analysis.
We concluded that follow‐up SVG patency rate is similar between men and women undergoing CABG.