Abstract
A new follow-up study of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery for angina pectoris indicates an "attrition" rate averaging 7% annually in the five years following the first postoperative year. The investigators, from the Montreal Heart Institute, defined attrition in two ways: the recurrence of pain in patients who have not experienced it since surgery, or an increase in anginal severity by at least two functional classes. Lucien Campeau, MD, who presented the data at the American Heart Association meeting in Dallas, said that other investigators have reported attrition rates ranging from 5% to 20%, depending on the definition of deterioration and the methods of calculations used. He said that the Montreal data do not argue against aortocoronary bypass grafting for angina if medical treatment yields a less than satisfactory degree of activity for the patient. It is important, he told JAMA MEDICAL NEWS, that the patient take part
Published Version
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