Coronary artery bypass grafts are much easier to identify first on 3D reconstructions, prior to analysis of source images. In particular, occluded grafts can be easily missed on source images. On 3D, a trail of surgical clips without an accompanying artery is a strong indicator of an occluded graft.

In this case, the cause of graft failure was due to competitive flow from a patent native vessel. When a graft is used to bypass a vessel with only mild stenosis, the need for bypass flow is low causing the graft to fail. This is especially seen in arterial grafts, which have muscular walls and autoregulate their lumen in response to flow.