Patients With Bypass Surgery Live Longer

Patients with severe coronary artery disease live longer if they receive coronary artery bypass surgery than angioplasty or medication, found a U.S. study.

Researchers at the Duke University Medical Center estimate 40 percent of patients diagnosed with severe coronary disease are treated first with angioplasty or medications and not given the opportunity to receive bypass surgery.

Bypass surgery is more expensive and more invasive but has the benefit of increasing patient lifespan significantly more than the other options, the scientists said.

Bypass surgery involves surgically bypassing blockages in coronary arteries with healthy arteries, while angioplasty involves snaking an expandable balloon through a tube inserted through a blocked coronary artery and then expanding the balloon to push the blockage against the walls of the artery.

It may sound very appealing to patients with severe coronary artery disease to get a treatment that is less expensive or less invasive, but they may not be getting the same survival benefit as those patients receiving bypass surgery, said study leader Dr. Peter Smith, chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Duke University Medical Center.