BACKGROUND Few studies have examined the association of race and outcomes after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery while controlling for both patient and hospital effects. METHODS AND RESULTS We retrospectively analyzed data on a cohort of 566,785 white and 24,354 black Medicare beneficiaries 65 years old and older undergoing CABG in 1091 US hospitals from 1997 to 2000. Mortality and...

BACKGROUND Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has emerged as an alternative treatment to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for unprotected left main (LM) coronary artery disease, but the results of both treatments are less clear in real-world practice. We aimed to assess the long-term outcomes of unprotected LM disease treated with CABG or PCI with stenting in high-risk population fr...

OBJECTIVES There are few reports on the outcome of total arch replacement (TAR) with concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG); the present study was aimed at analysing outcomes after TAR with CABG at our institute. METHODS Between January 2002 and December 2012, 123 consecutive patients underwent elective TAR with or without CABG. The patients were divided into two groups: 46 who ha...

BACKGROUND Changes in the location and availability of surgical services change the distances that patients must travel for surgery. Identifying health effects related to travel distance is therefore crucial to evaluating policies that affect the geographic distribution of these services. We examine the health outcomes of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients in Pennsylvania for evidence...

BACKGROUND In the past decade, there has been an increase in the amount of patients with medical co-morbidities referred for coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). Significant carotid artery disease in patients undergoing CABG procedures increases the risk of neurological complications. We review the results of routine carotid screening in patients undergoing CABG to determine the contemporary ...

BACKGROUND There is continuing uncertainty over the relative contribution of outcomes monitoring to changes in surgical outcomes over time. The authors studied temporal trends in the clinical characteristics and short-term outcomes of patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in Ontario before and after the implementation, in 1993, of a province-wide program to provide feedb...

BACKGROUND The role of coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG) in the treatment of patients with coronary artery disease and heart failure has not been clearly established. METHODS Between July 2002 and May 2007, a total of 1212 patients with an ejection fraction of 35% or less and coronary artery disease amenable to CABG were randomly assigned to medical therapy alone (602 patients) or medica...

OBJECTIVES Ischaemic heart disease is the leading cause of death in the elderly population. Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery via sternotomy remains the standard of care for patients with multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD). Minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS)-CABG via left thoracotomy has been used as an alternative to sternotomy. The aim of our study was to assess the ov...

BACKGROUND On-pump beating-heart coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (CABG) is beneficial due to the elimination of cardioplegic arrest. However, there are few reports regarding its efficacy in chronic hemodialysis patients. This study investigated the potential benefits of on-pump beating-heart CABG in chronic hemodialysis patients. METHODS From January 2002 to January 2010, 186 patients...

OBJECTIVE Postoperative vasoplegic syndrome (PVS) is a potentially lethal condition with increased mortality and other postoperative morbidities. Many previous studies have examined the outcomes associated with on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery, little is known about the incidence of PVS after off-pump CABG. METHODS From November 21, 2005 to June 9, 2006, 334 patients und...