Popular bypass technique can be a killer Removing Leg Veins Endoscopically Damages Them, Increasing Chances Of Fatal Heart Attack
Boston: Using an endoscope to remove leg veins for heart bypass surgery appears to damage the veins and makes patients 52% more likely to die within three years, doctors reported. Although the technique is meant to be less invasive and gentler, it may in fact damage the vein and lead to heart attacks, the researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday. About 70% of bypass patients now have their leg vein removed endoscopically, in part because it produces much less scarring and infection to the leg than the traditional method, known as “open harvesting”, in which the vein is taken by directly cutting along a stretch of the leg. Endoscopes are little cameras that can be inserted, sometimes with surgical instruments, via a small incision in the skin. They are widely used for a range of procedures and have been used for vein harvesting for 13 years. But the study of 3,000 patients found veins removed by the endoscopic technique were significantly more likel...