Indications and selection of patients for coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Patients with chronic stable angina who have coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery for the relief of symptoms are asymptomatic after one year in about 75% of cases. The indications for surgery in unstable angina are unclear. CABG has not shown to benefit patients with Printzmetal angina or who survived an episode of ventricular fibrillation. CABG for acute myocardial infarction is a contentious issue, buy an operative death rate of 5.2% with a late mortality of 1.1% has been reported. There is still debate about the usefulness of CABG in promoting life expectancy. Improved longevity is clearly seen in left main and triple vessel disease.