Survival After Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery in Specific Patient Groups

The results of coronary bypass 5-10 years after operation at the Baylor College of Medicine are reported. The late results demonstrate that good relief of symptoms of angina pectoris persisted in 89% of patients at 10 years of follow-up. An overall annual attrition rate of 3% has been fairly constant through 10 years of follow-up. Graft patency has declined at a rate of about 1% per year after the first year, with patency rates in the 5-10-year interval approaching 80%. Pathologic changes in the vein grafts of intimal proliferation or atherosclerosis appear to pose a limited threat to long-term patency. Although derived from an early experience in which perioperative mortality was relatively high and revascularization incomplete, these favorable long-term results are encouraging.