St. Francis Hospital First in the U.S. Enrolling Patients in New Coronary Artery Bypass Clinical Trial

Catholic Health’s St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center® (Roslyn, NY) is the first hospital in the United States enrolling patients in a ground-breaking clinical trial investigating the effectiveness of intravascular imaging. This method of studying blood vessels from the inside will be used for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and aims to improve the current standard of care. 
 
Physicians routinely use leg veins to perform bypasses during surgery, but until now, they had no way to peer inside the veins. This study uses an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) high-resolution camera to view inside the blood vessel to identify any abnormalities or damages to the vein. These could be removed before the CABG, potentially improving graft function, allowing the surgeon to use the best parts of a patient’s veins for bypass surgery. Using OCT would reduce incidents of early vein graft closure and improve the success of bypass surgeries.
 
“This is an exciting step forward for patients undergoing bypass surgery,” said Director of the DeMatteis Cardiovascular Institute Ziad A. Ali, MD, DPhil. “We know that a significant portion of vein bypasses become clogged over time, and despite many efforts, there hasn’t been any new therapeutic advances in improving vein patency for decades. Using OCT could represent that much needed breakthrough.”
 
Approximately 700 patients are expected to participate in this randomized study over the next two years. While all patient will have their veins visualized, the surgeons will only see the results of half of the enrollees. In the pilot study during 2020-2021, information gathered from the 29 participants demonstrated OCT was safe, effective and feasible.
 
“St. Francis Hospital’s preliminary studies indicate that using OCT in coronary artery bypass procedures is safe and may improve the results of bypass surgery,” said Surgical Director of the Kroll Family Center for Heart Failure and Circulatory Support Edward F. Lundy, MD, PhD, MBA. “We are excited to conduct this sophisticated study to prove that using OCT reduces the incidence of early graft closures, improves outcomes and will advance the standard of care for all open heart surgery patients.”
 
 “St. Francis Hospital continues to pave the way in cardiovascular medicine by bringing the latest in technology and treatment,” said St. Francis President Charles L. Lucore, MD, MBA. “We are excited at the prospects of this trial and what it will mean for our bypass patients.”