"No-Touch" Saphenous Vein Grafting and Coronary Aneurysm Ligation in an Adult Patient with Suspected Prior Kawasaki Disease

• Published in: The American journal of case reports Vol. 25; p. e945431
• Main Authors: Ueno, Satoshi, Katayama, Yuji, Kudo, Takashi, Nishikawa, Naomi, Nagao, Yoshiro, Shimomura, Hideki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States International Scientific Literature, Inc 06.10.2024
• Subjects: Aged; Coronary Aneurysm - diagnostic imaging; Coronary Aneurysm - etiology; Coronary Aneurysm - surgery; Coronary Angiography; Coronary Artery Bypass; Female; Humans; Ligation; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome - complications; Saphenous Vein - transplantation
• DOI: 10.12659/AJCR.945431
• ISSN: 1941-5923

BACKGROUND Coronary artery aneurysms in patients with Kawasaki disease may develop acute myocardial infarction. It is challenging to achieve complete revascularization solely through percutaneous coronary intervention in these patients. Therefore, coronary artery bypass grafting is often necessary. CASE REPORT We present a case of a 68-year-old woman who developed multiple acute myocardial infarctions due to giant aneurysms formed in the right coronary artery (RCA) and the left circumflex artery (LCx). We diagnosed the cause of the aneurysms as Kawasaki disease based on the coronary angiogram, laboratory results, and family history. After the primary balloon angioplasty, we conducted coronary artery bypass grafting, which involved grafting 2 vessels to the LCx and 1 vessel to the RCA. The internal thoracic arteries, which are the standard graft vessels, were occluded, most likely due to Kawasaki disease vasculitis. Instead, we used saphenous vein grafts harvested using the "no-touch" technique, which preserves the perivascular adipose tissue, to improve the long-term patency. In addition, we ligated the LCx aneurysm to prevent occlusion of the grafts and rupture of the aneurysm. Four years after the uneventful discharge, the patient is in good health and coronary computed tomography angiography revealed good patency of all grafts. CONCLUSIONS This report highlights a successful combination of "no-touch" saphenous vein grafting and coronary aneurysm ligation in an adult patient with Kawasaki disease. These techniques may be especially useful for this vasculitic illness which is often associated with occlusion of internal thoracic arteries.