| Summary: | <p><strong>Background</strong></p>
<p>The association of age with the outcomes of bilateral internal thoracic arteries (BITAs) versus single internal thoracic arteries (SITAs) for coronary bypass grafting (CABG) remains to be determined.</p>
<p><strong>Objectives</strong></p>
<p>The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between age and BITA versus SITA outcomes in the Arterial Revascularization Trial.</p>
<p><strong>Methods</strong></p>
<p>The primary endpoints were all-cause mortality and a composite of major adverse events, including all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, or stroke. Secondary endpoints were bleeding complications and sternal wound complications up to 6 months after surgery. Multivariable fractional polynomials analysis and log-rank tests were used.</p>
<p><strong>Results</strong></p>
<p>Age did not affect any of the explored outcomes in the overall BITA versus SITA comparison in the intention-to-treat analysis and in the analysis based on the number of arterial grafts received. However, when the intention-to-treat analysis was restricted to the populations of patients between age 50 and 70 years, younger patients in the BITA arm had a significantly lower incidence of major adverse events (p = 0.03).</p>
<p><strong>Conclusions</strong></p>
<p>Our results suggest that BITA may improve long-term outcome in younger patients, although more randomized data are needed to confirm this hypothesis.</p>
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