Does coronary artery bypass surgery improve survival?

Objectives. According to guide-lines, coronary bypass surgery improves survival in high risk patients. The evidence for this is more than 20 years old and may be questioned. Long waiting lists for coronary bypass surgery are detrimental but offer the possibility to compare the risk of death before and after surgery. We hypothesized that the risk of death is lower after bypass surgery than before the operation in high risk patients in a more recent cohort. Design and results. Death hazard functions were calculated by the use of Poisson regression scheduled for bypass surgery between 1 Jan 1995 and 31 July 2005. The analyses were performed in two states: 1) in the period after triage until admission for surgery during which optimal medication was intended and 2) after surgery and up to 11 years (corresponding to 57,548 patient years). The probability of death was calculated by entering individual risk profile data into the two multivariable functions. There were several significant differences between the hazard functions in the two states. All variables reflecting angiographic severity of coronary lesions indicated lower risk of death after bypass surgery. The risk associated with left ventricular impairment was lower after surgery (beta coefficients -0.0546 vs. -0.0234,

Does off-pump coronary surgery endanger long term survival?

In this issue Ibrahim and co-authors report on technical hazards of off-pump (without heart lung machine) coronary surgery 1. Their findings are in line with meta-analyses of randomized trials which indicate that under-grafting and graft-failures are more common after off-pump than after standard operations. The risk that the objectives of coronary bypass surgery are endangered is discussed in relation to evidence based medicine. A moratorium is suggested until conclusive data are available

Incomplete revascularization reduces survival benefit of coronary artery bypass grafting: role of off-pump surgery.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to analyze the influence, if any, of incomplete revascularization and on/off-pump techniques on long-term mortality after coronary artery bypass grafting. METHODS: A total of 9408 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, 8461 on pump and 947 off pump, operated on between 1995 and 2004 were included in the study. Adjusted hazard function for long-term mortality was estimated with Poisson regression analysis in a model that included variables reflecting completeness of revascularization, operative method (on/off pump), and background risk factors for death. RESULTS: Mean follow-up after surgical intervention for survivors was 5.0 +/- 2.8 years (range, 0.5-10.5 years), with a total follow-up of 45,076 patient years. Leaving 1 diseased vascular segment without a bypass graft in 2- or 3-vessel disease did not increase the hazard ratio for death in comparison with complete revascularization (hazard ratio, 1.05; 95% confidence interval, 0.87-1.27; P = .60). In contrast, leaving 2 vascular segments without a bypass graft in 3-vessel disease was associated with an increased hazard ratio for death (hazard ratio, 1.82; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-2.85; P = .01). Incomplete revascularization was more common in the off-pump group (