Complementary Roles of Surgical and Medical Therapy for Angina Pectoris

Excerpt

The role of coronary artery bypass surgery in the management of chronic coronary heart disease is undergoing a slow but inexorable transformation. This change has been attributed by many to the recent reports of the Coronary Artery Surgery Study Group (1, 2). Although the results of this study are clearly of great importance, they reflect only part of the changing scene that has led to a more clearly defined and diminished set of indications for revascularization surgery in the 1980s.

First, one must recognize that both morbidity and mortality from coronary heart disease have gradually declined in the United States