Any patient is potentially a candidate for radial artery surgery.
We always take into account specific patient variables that make the procedure more or less desirable. These issues are carefully reviewed with each patient before surgery. The failure to use the left internal mammary artery to bypass the left anterior descending coronary artery has been associated in the literature with a higher mortality at ten years. We believe these data and act on them accordingly. The use of the right internal mammary artery presents a more complex issue.