• Fabio de Rueda, Domingos Souza, Ricardo de Carvalho Lima, Alexandre Menezes, Benny Johansson, Michael Dashwood, Emmanuel Thé, Mário Gesteira, Mozart Escobar, and Frederico Vasconcelos.
• Divisão de Cirurgia Cardiotorácica, Hospital Oswaldo Cruz, Universidade de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil. fgrueda@yahoo.com.br
• Arq. Bras. Cardiol. 2008 Jun 1; 90 (6): 356-62.

BackgroundOptimization of the saphenous vein for myocardial revascularization.ObjectiveTo present the no-touch technique of the saphenous vein preparation. This technique consists of harvesting the vein with a pedicle of surrounding tissue, which protects the vein from spasms, obviating the need for distension.MethodsA prospective, randomized study with 156 patients who underwent artery bypass grafting was performed comparing three saphenous vein harvesting techniques: conventional, intermediate, and no-touch. A morphological study of the endothelium was carried out using scanning microscopy. An angiographic assessment of the vein graft patency was performed at a mean follow-up time of 18 months. Also, an immunohistochemical assessment was carried out to identify the endothelial enzyme nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) in the vein wallResultsThe preservation of the endothelial cell integrity was greater in the no-touch technique than in the other procedures. At angiographic follow-up, the patency for the no-touch group was 95.4%, 88.9% for the grafts of the conventional technique group, and 86.2% for the grafts performed in the intermediate technique group. The immunohistochemical assessment revealed eNOS in all three layers of the vein wall in the no-touch group and reduction of this enzyme in the conventional group.ConclusionThe endothelial integrity and eNOS activity were better preserved when using the no-touch technique for vein graft harvesting. The mechanical protection provided by the cushion of surrounding tissue in the no-touch group, the vasorelaxation and thromboresistant activities of nitric oxide may be responsible for the reduction of vasospasms and improved patency rate.

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