Researchers say bypass surgery can be of special benefit to elderly patients.
Their findings are published in the February issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The authors examined 1974-1991 data on 8,221 US bypass patients collected as part of the ongoing Coronary Artery Surgery Study. Mortality risk appears to decline within the first year following bypass surgery, and then begins to rise slowly again over time. Increased risk for long-term postoperative mortality were associated with obesity, smoking, use of diuretics, and coexisting illnesses such as diabetes or hypertension, according to the study authors. All rights reserved.