Severe dilatation of saphenous vein grafts: a late complication of coronary surgery in which the diagnosis is suggested by chest x-ray.

Aneurysmal dilatation of saphenous vein graft (SVG), first reported in 1975, is secondary to true aneurysm or pseudoaneurysm. We report 1 case and review 107 cases published since 1975. Severe SVG dilatations are large (6 +/- 3 cm), occur remote from surgery (12 +/- 4 years) and are life threatening, with 15.7% in-hospital mortality. Symptoms are nonspecific and the abnormality is initially observed by chest X-ray in 57% of cases. The chest X-ray abnormalities have a distinctive appearance that may suggest both diagnosis and which SVG is involved. Diagnosis is made clinically by imaging, i.e. computed tomography, echocardiography, magnetic resonance and/or surgical observation (66 cases), or most accurately by tissue evaluation by the pathologist (42 cases). Aneurysm is more common than pseudoaneurysm by a 6:1 ratio. Copyright 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.