Spyder aortic connector system in off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery

Purpose. The Spyder aortic connector (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) is a new, promising connector device and its safety and efficacy have been evaluated in this study. Description. Twenty-two patients were randomized to proximal vein graft anastomosis with the Spyder aortic connector ( Medtronic) or hand-sewn technique. Evaluation. Twenty patients underwent multi-detector computed tomographic scans of the chest 6 months after surgery to evaluate vein graft patency. We have failed to successfully deploy three Spyder connector devices. Thus in this study we have evaluated the graft patency of 19 hand-sewn grafts and of 19 vein grafts anastomosed with the Spyder anastomotic device. Three vein grafts whose proximal anastomosis was accomplished with the Spyder anastomotic connector were occluded and all hand-sewn vein grafts were patent (16% vs 0%; p = 0.23). Stenosis of the proximal anastomosis was observed in seven vein grafts (37%), accomplished with the Spyder anastomotic connector, and in one (5%) hand-sewn vein graft ( p = 0.042). Conclusions. The results of this study suggest that the use of the Spyder aortic connector device is associated with suboptimal 6-month graft patency.