Abstract

Data are presented on 1,400 consecutive patients who had myocardial revascularization at our institution. The patients ranged in age from 33 to 80 years. Coronary bypass was done with an associated noncardiac procedure in 70 patients and with an associated cardiac procedure in 73 patients. The hospital mortality was 2.0%. Left ventricular function was a primary determinant of hospital mortality. With a 98% follow-up, survival was 93.1% at a mean of three years (range, six months to seven years). Ventricular function was the prime determinant of the overall long-term survival. These data indicate that myocardial revascularization, either alone or with an associated cardiac or noncardiac procedure, can be done with a low. operative mortality. Because of the excellent five-year survival in our group of patients followed up for this length of time, we believe these data support the hypothesis that myocardial revascularization extends the life expectancy of patients with coronary artery disease.