Knowledge. In addition to the systematic search, a number of abstracts were identified thru secondary referencing. All studies comparing EVH to OVH for CABG were eligible, i.e. full articles, abstracts and posters were all included. OVH was defined as the use of open harvesting techniques using a single continuous incision, i.e. studies using bridging techniques were excluded. EVH was defined as: the VasoView system (Maquet, Wayne, NJ, USA), the ENDOPATH system (Ethicon Endosurgery, Cincinnati, OH, USA), the Clearglide Endoscopic Vessel Harvesting System (CardioVation, Ethicon Inc. Johnson & Johnson, Somervill, NJ, USA), the Karl Storz Endoskope (Karl Storz, Tuttlingen, Germany), the VirtuoSaph system (Terumo Cardiovascular Corp., Ann Arbor, MI, USA), the EndoSaph Vein Harvest system (Unites States Surgical, Tyco Healthcare, Norwalk, CT, USA), a mixture of above mentioned, or if primary author's stated EVH was used although the system was not defined. Our search was not limited by language but in one case the inclusion was limited by language. Corresponding