A symposium on surgery for coronary artery disease. Patient selection and preoperative evaluation.

Patient selection based upon preoperative evaluation is a complex problem. In using a procedure with the tremenduous implications and applications seen in aortocoronary bypass grafting, excesses in enthusiasm and criticism are the rule rather than the exception. With patience and careful evaluation,,the correct place for the procedure will be found and, though it is not quite the panacea once claimed for patients with coronary artery disease, aortocoronary bypass surgery will remain an important and valuable therapeutic tool, perhaps the most significant development in cardiovascular treatment of the past decade.