Outcomes of Fractional Flow Reserve-Based Deferral in Saphenous Vein Graft Narrowing

Fractional flow reserve (FFR) has been shown to improve clinical decision-making for revascularization in intermediate coronary stenosis in native coronary arteries of patients with stable coronary disease. However, its use for saphenous vein graft (SVG) lesions has not been well validated. We sought to determine the prognostic value of deferring intervention in lesions with FFR >0.8 in SVG lesions. Clinical, angiographic, and hemodynamic variables and long-term outcomes were recorded in consecutive patients in whom percutaneous coronary intervention was deferred based on an FFR >0.8 for intermediate native coronary artery or SVG stenosis. Thirty-three patients underwent FFR of SVG lesions and were compared with 532 patients who underwent native vessel FFR during the same period. There were no differences in age (66.6 [interquartile range, IQR 63 to 76] vs 65 years [IQR 61 to 70]; p = 0.12), diabetes (41% vs 50%; p = 0.35), or hypertension (94% vs 97%; p = 0.71). During a median follow-up of 3.2 years (IQR 1.7 to 4.6 years) major adverse cardiac event was significantly higher in SVG group (36% vs 21%; log rank p = 0.01). Similarly, the rate of target vessel failure was significantly higher in the SVG group (27% vs 14%; p = 0.01). Deferred SVG lesions had the worst survival free of target vessel failure compared with deferred native lesions in both patients with and without previous CABG. An SVG lesion was an independent predictor of major adverse cardiac events on Cox proportional hazards analysis (hazard ratio 2.26; confidence interval 1.19, 4.28; p = 0.01). In conclusion, nonischemic FFR carries a significantly worse prognosis in SVG compared with non-SVG lesions. Caution is warranted in utilizing FFR for clinical decision-making in SVG lesions.