REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS Quitting smoking is associated with a substantial reduction in risk of all-cause mortality among patients with CHD .
This 36 % risk reduction appears substantial compared with other secondary preventive therapies such as cholesterol lowering which have received greater attention in recent years .
The risk reduction associated with quitting smoking seems consistent regardless of differences between the studies in terms of index cardiac events , age , sex , country , and time period .
BACKGROUND Although the importance of smoking as a risk factor for coronary heart disease is beyond doubt , the speed and magnitude of risk reduction when a smoker with coronary heart disease quits are still subjects of debate .
OBJECTIVES To estimate the magnitude of risk reduction when a patient with CHD stops smoking .
Smoking and cardiac events after venous coronary bypass surgery. A 15-year follow-up study.
BACKGROUND The long-term clinical effects of smoking and smoking cessation after  venous coronary bypass surgery  have not been well established . METHODS AND RESULTS Four hundred fifteen patients who underwent venous coronary bypass surgery between April 1976 and April 1977 were followed up prospect ively for 15 years . Multivariate Cox survival analysis revealed that patients who smoked at the time of surgery had no elevated risks for clinical events compared with nonsmokers . However , smoking behavior at 1 and 5 years after surgery appeared to be an important predictor of clinical events during the subsequent follow-up period . Compared with patients who stopped smoking since surgery , smokers at 1 year after surgery had more than twice the risk for myocardial infa rct ion and reoperation . Patients who were still smoking at 5 years after surgery had even more elevated risks for myocardial infa rct ion and reoperation and a significantly increased risk for angina pectoris compared with patients who stopped smoking since surgery and patients who never smoked . Patients who started to smoke again within 5 years after surgery had increased risks for reoperation and angina pectoris . No differences in outcome were found between patients who stopped smoking since surgery and nonsmokers . CONCLUSIONS Our results show that smoking cessation after coronary bypass surgery may have important beneficial effects on clinical events during long-term follow-up
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS Quitting smoking is associated with a substantial reduction in risk of all-cause mortality among patients with CHD .
This 36 % risk reduction appears substantial compared with other secondary preventive therapies such as cholesterol lowering which have received greater attention in recent years .
The risk reduction associated with quitting smoking seems consistent regardless of differences between the studies in terms of index cardiac events , age , sex , country , and time period .
BACKGROUND Although the importance of smoking as a risk factor for coronary heart disease is beyond doubt , the speed and magnitude of risk reduction when a smoker with coronary heart disease quits are still subjects of debate .
OBJECTIVES To estimate the magnitude of risk reduction when a patient with CHD stops smoking .