Coronary artery bypass surgery

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Coronary artery bypass surgery, once regarded as an extremely formidable and risky procedure, has become commonplace within the past ten years and is now performed with relative safety and low mortality in community hospitals across the nation. One such hospital, William Beaumont in Royal Oak, Michigan, recently conducted an audit of its coronary artery surgery experience to find out how well it measured up to that of larger, academically oriented hospitals and clinics. Results were comparable to those of the Coronary Artery Surgery Study—both perioperative infarction rate (4.6%) and mortality (1.2%) were low, complete revascularization was 77%, and a range of complications occurred, but none with striking frequency.