Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery News and Research

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Coronary Artery Bypass is surgery in which a healthy blood vessel taken from another part of the body is used to make a new path for blood around a blocked artery leading to the heart. This restores the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the heart. Also called aortocoronary bypass and CAB.

Treatment of severe coronary artery disease with angioplasty/coronary stenting a viable alternative to bypass surgery

Severe stenosis (blockage) to the left main coronary artery - a condition commonly called a "widow-maker"- can result in sudden death. For nearly 30 years, the gold standard for treatment has been coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG).

1 Mar 2006

Why more women die than men after heart bypass surgery

According to researchers, infections - including those acquired in hospitals, could explain why women die more frequently than men after heart bypass surgery and the explanations for this sex difference are controversial.

28 Feb 2006

Researchers isolate causes of cognitive loss following coronary artery bypass surgery

Minimizing trauma to the body's largest artery - the aorta - during heart bypass surgery can significantly reduce cognitive loss that often follows the operation, a team from Wake Forest University School of Medicine reported in the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

23 Jan 2006

Post cardiac surgery heart irregularities reduced by medication

Use of the medication amiodarone is associated with one-half the incidence of atrial tachyarrhythmias (rapid, abnormal heart beat) following cardiac surgery, according to a study in the December 28 issue of JAMA.

28 Dec 2005

Fat surrounding internal thoracic artery of humans produces a factor which can relax the artery

A team of McMaster researchers has discovered that fat tissue surrounding thoracic arteries may be beneficial in patients undergoing coronary bypass surgery.

13 Dec 2005

Age alone influences risks for people in their eighties after heart surgery

Patients aged 80 and older have a higher risk of death and disease than younger patients after undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery or valve surgery, and age alone influences these outcomes, according to a study in the November issue of Archives of Surgery.

26 Nov 2005

American physicians may be too liberal in their use of blood transfusions

In an analysis of some 24,000 patient records, the researchers found that Americans rushed to the hospital with heart attack symptoms have significantly higher rates of bleeding and transfusions after treatment than similar patients throughout the world.

21 Nov 2005

Pretreating a vein graft with edifoligide prior to coronary bypass graft surgery does not lower the rate of graft failure

Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is one of the most common surgical procedures performed in the United States, according to background information in the article. In appropriately selected patients, CABG surgery results in improved survival, relief of angina, and improved quality of life. Despite frequent use of artery grafts, vein grafts remain the most frequently used conduit.

13 Nov 2005

Hopkins study finds no "cognitive decline" after use of heart-lung machine during bypass surgery

The use of a cardiopulmonary heart pump during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery does not significantly damage such high-level mental tasks as thinking, reasoning and remembering, according to a study by Johns Hopkins researchers recently published in Neurology.

10 Nov 2005

Association of aprotinin with reduced glucose levels during CABG surgery

An anesthesiology research team at Columbia University Medical Center have completed the first human study to show that aprotinin, a protease inhibitor, was associated with lower blood glucose levels during coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

25 Oct 2005

Real-world treatment of patients with acute coronary syndromes

A review of more than 56,000 cases of acute coronary syndromes reveals that older patients are less likely to receive treatment recommended by guidelines, even though they benefit as much or more than younger patients when the recommended treatment is provided, according to a new study in the Oct. 18, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

11 Oct 2005

Cost-effectiveness of potentially life-saving implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) is an important public health issue

The use of implanted defibrillators that keep the heart beating in proper electrical rhythm to prevent cardiac arrest appears to be cost-effective for those patients who receive a significant mortality reduction, according to researchers from Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), Stanford University and the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Calif. They analyzed eight clinical trials of the devices to arrive at their conclusion.

5 Oct 2005

When it comes to heart bypass surgery, women twice as likely to die

According to a new study when it comes to heart bypass surgery, women are nearly twice as likely as men to die from complications.

30 Aug 2005

Coronary angioplasty increases risk of developing Alzheimer's disease

Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) researchers have discovered that patients who have either coronary artery bypass graft surgery or coronary angioplasty are at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

25 Aug 2005

Heparinase I is not a suitable replacement for protamine

The results of an international clinical trial led by Duke University Medical Center researchers has shown that a new drug is not a suitable replacement for protamine, a drug that has been used for more than 40 years after coronary artery bypass surgery to return thinned blood to its normal state.

1 Aug 2005

UK health services regulator says NHS still leaves a lot to be desired

The UK Healthcare Commission, in its second annual report to Parliament, says that a quarter of people waited more than two days for an appointment with their GP, despite Government assurances that almost everyone can see a doctor within 48 hours.

23 Jul 2005

Novadaq receives U.S. patent for intra-operative imaging procedure

Novadaq Technologies today announced that it has been granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the SPY(TM) Intra-operative Imaging System (SPY System).

13 Jul 2005

Costs of coronary artery bypass graft surgery more than 80 percent higher in US than in Canada

Although there are no differences in clinical outcome, the in-hospital cost of coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) in the U.S. is 82.5 percent higher in the U.S. than in Canada, according to a study in the July 11 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

11 Jul 2005

Study finds better long-term outcomes when surgeons place a bypass graft to all the territories of the heart that have significantly blocked arteries

Pointing out that not all coronary artery bypass operations are performed the same way or have equivalent outcomes, cardiothoracic surgeons at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center have found that patients who have blockages of multiple coronary arteries and undergo "complete revascularization" - grafting of arteries to restore blood flow to all affected territories of the heart - have consistently better long-term survival rates than those who have "incomplete revascularization."

20 Jun 2005

Acute coronary syndrome patients at increased risk of stroke

Patients hospitalized with chest pain or heart attack symptoms are at an increased risk of stroke even after being discharged, according to a study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

15 Jun 2005