Outcome analysis of surgical therapy for patients with angina pectoris.

Surgical therapy for coronary artery disease results in improved survival rates for selected groups of patients, particularly those with left ventricular dysfunction and/or severe coronary artery disease as evidenced by involvement of two or more vessels. Successful augmentation of coronary blood flow as shown by patient saphenous vein graft is associated with improved exercise tolerance when compared with patients in whom the grafts are occluded. Patients with impaired left centricular function as a result of their coronary artery disease appear to experience an improvement in this function with the augmentation of coronary blood flow by patent saphenous vein bypass grafts. In patients with occluded grafts and impaired left ventricular function, the left ventricular function is unchanged. Ptients with normal left ventricular function who sustain occlusion of their grafts will probably experience a reduction in their systolic ejection fraction.