Unstable angina: early and late results of operative treatment.

Between January 1978 and May 1980 at King's College Hospital 68 patients of 300 patients treated consecutively by coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) had presented with unstable angina. There were 58 males and 10 females age range 26 to 69 years, mean 54 years. Thirty-one patients (45%) had definite evidence of previous myocardial infarction, 4 had diabetes mellitus and 7 had left main stem stenosis greater than 50%. Seven cases (9.7%) required pre or peri-operative intra-aortic balloon pump assistance. Two subsets within this group of 68 patients with unstable angina were recognised. Fifty seven patients had CABG alone without any additional surgical procedure and there were 2 peri-operative deaths (mortality 3.5%). In 11 patients who had CABG plus additional surgical procedures including valve replacement or left ventricular aneurysmectomy there were 3 peri-operative deaths (mortality 27%). The overall mortality of the 68 patients was 5 deaths (7.4%). These results indicate that the operative mortality in patients with unstable angina having CABG alone is not significantly higher than the overall mortality at that time for the patients who had CABG for stable angina (2.4%).