Using Artery from the arm

Is it common practice to use an artery from the arm in bypass surgery?  My husband (50 years old) is going to have a quad bypass and the surgeon will be using a vein from his leg as well as an artery from his arm.  Does the artery hold up as well as a vein?  What are the stats on this and what are the advantages of it - what are the risks?    

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

Dear Cindy,

The use of the radial artery from the arm as a bypass graft is a relatively new but accepted technique.  It is known that the mammary artery graft does much better than vein bypass.  The theory is that the radial artery grafts will also do better over the long run.  There are no long-term outcome studies yet.  The potential risk is that the graft will close early and the potential advantage is that it will stay open much longer.

[Richard]

Cindy, Take a look at  http://home.ici.net/~richc/coronary.htm

This story might help you in understanding what your husband going to or has gone thru.  I was 58.

Richard