Use of 'jump grafts' spreads
"This is the year of the 'jump graft,' " remarked chairman Earle Mahoney, MD, as he opened a session of the American Heart Association's recent meeting in Anaheim, Calif.The cardiologist from Rochester, NY, was right—the topic was the saphenous vein bypass graft, and more than 1,500 interested onlookers filled the room. They heard ten papers, most of them generally favorable, describing the details and complications of the technique that has so changed the outlook on myocardial revascularization within the past four years.The procedure is now being performed in the United States more than 20,000 times a year, according to some estimates. In 1969, it represented about 2,200 of the 27,000 cardiac operations in the United States. More than 50,000 cardiac procedures were performed in the past year.Amid all the optimism, however, a cautionary note was sounded by the president of the AHA