Intraindividual comparison of human radial and internal thoracic arteries in vitro and the effect of preoperative calcium blocker therapy

The patency rate of radial artery (RA) conduits is considerably lower than that of internal thoracic artery (ITA) grafts and the evidence suggests that this is due to a clinically suspected higher incidence of vasospasm. The aim of this study was, therefore, to compare intraindividually the pharmacological reactivity of RA with that of ITA. Both RA and ITA were taken from the same patients and investigated in parallel. Changes in tone were monitored isometrically on ring preparations from both arteries in organ baths with modified Krebs–Henseleit solution containing 1.25 mm calcium chloride at 1 g passive preload. In intraindividual comparisons maximal receptor-mediated contractile responses to noradrenaline and endothelin-1 and endothelium-dependent acetylcholine-induced relaxant responses revealed no differences between both arteries. By contrast, depolarization-induced contractions to potassium chloride (KCl) appeared to be significantly higher in RA than in ITA. Further analysis, however, revealed that this difference was due to preoperative calcium entry blocker (Ca2+eB) therapy. Compared with control tissues, maximal responses to KCl were significantly attenuated in the ITA but unchanged in RA when arteries were obtained from patients with preoperative Ca2+eB therapy. The present results suggested that functional responses to pharmacological stimuli of both RA and ITA were quite similar. Preoperative Ca2+eB therapy, however, attenuated markedly responses to KCl of the ITA leaving those of RA unchanged. These results, demonstrating a lower sensitivity to Ca2+eB of RA, therefore suggested that in addition to Ca2+eB other classes of drug may be more effective at reducing the propensity of RA conduits to vasospasm.