Should patients with stenosis of the left main coronary artery waiting for bypass grafting be given priority?
Helena Rexius Dr. Rexius is from the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden. Correspondence to: Dr. Helena Rexius, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, SE 413 45 Gothenburg, Sweden; fax +46 31 41 79 91; helena.rexius{at}hjl.gu.se’ + u + ‘@’ + d + ”//–> Insufficient capacity for coronary artery bypass grafting surgery (CABG) results in waiting time before surgery, in patients being assigned to different waiting times and in risk of death among the patients who are waiting. Angina symptoms, cardiac function and extent of coronary artery disease have traditionally been used to allocate patients to groups with different waiting times.1 The impact of stenosis of the left main coronary artery on mortality and morbidity among patients waiting to undergo CABG is not clear, but in 2 large retrospective cohort studies the condition was not associated with increased waiting-time mortality.2,3 However, because p
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