@article{oai:kanazawa-u.repo.nii.ac.jp:00013924,
 author = {Watanabe, Go and Noda, Yukihiro and Takagi, Takeshi and Tomita, Shigeyuki and Yamaguchi, Shojiro and Kiuchi, Ryuta},
 issue = {2},
 journal = {Annals of Thoracic Surgery},
 month = {Aug},
 note = {Background: The internal thoracic artery (ITA) is a very useful conduit for coronary artery bypass artery (CABG), with excellent long-term patency. With the purpose to dilate the ITA graft and increase graft free flow (GFF) intraoperatively, we evaluated the usefulness of intraluminal injection of fasudil, a Rho-kinase inhibitor, in comparison to the conventional graft dilating agent, papaverine. Methods: Between June 2011 and January 2012, 30 patients with ischemic heart disease who underwent isolated CABG using ITA were enrolled. The patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups: the fasudil group (n = 15) in which fasudil solution 0.9 mg/dL was injected into the ITA, and the papaverine group (n = 15) in which papaverine solution (0.4 mg/mL) mixed with heparinized blood was used. Outcome measures were left ITA GFF, heart rate, and mean blood pressure during flow measurements, and histopathologic examination of the ITA. Results: In the fasudil group, GFF increased significantly (p < 0.01) from 19.7 ± 15.2 mL/minute at baseline to 66.9 ± 31.7 mL/minute after fasudil injection. In the papaverine group, GFF increased significantly (p < 0.01) from 22.9 ± 17.3 mL/minute at baseline to 44.8 ± 26.7 mL/minute after papaverine injection. Blood pressure and heart rate did not change significantly after drug injection in both groups. The GFF was significantly higher (p = 0.038) in fasudil-treated ITA than in papaverine-treated ITA. Histopathologically, the diameter of the ITA was markedly increased after fasudil injection. Elastica van Gieson staining showed that the multiple elastic lamellae structure was intact. Conclusions: Fasudil exhibited very potent vasodilatory effect on the ITA compared with conventional papaverine resulting in increased GFF. This agent is a useful graft dilating agent. © 2013 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.},
 pages = {543--547},
 title = {Fasudil is a superior vasodilator for the internal thoracic artery in coronary surgery},
 volume = {96},
 year = {2013}
}