The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, Vol 22, 524-527, Copyright © 1976 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Surgical versus medical treatment for stable angina pectoris: prospective randomized study with 1- to 4-year follow-up
GA Guinn and VS Mathur
A prospective randomized study to evaluate aortocoronary bypass was done on
116 patients (56 surgical, 60 medical) who had documented coronary artery
disease (70% luminal obstruction in a major artery). The two groups were
similar in age and risk factors. All patients have been followed for a mean
of 34 months, and recatheterization has been done in 106 of the survivors.
Important results show that although most patients in both groups are
improved, more surgical patients are asymptomatic (68 vs 8%). Exercise
tolerance was better in the surgical group (+94% vs +43%). There was
significantly greater evidence of preinfarction angina in the medical group
(p less than 0.02), but survival was similar.