Risk of Death from Delayed Heart Surgery
Author Information
Author(s): Sobolev Boris G, Levy Adrian R, Kuramoto Lisa, Hayden Robert, Brophy James M, FitzGerald J Mark
Primary Institution: University of British Columbia
Hypothesis
Does delaying coronary artery bypass surgery increase the risk of death?
Conclusion
The probability of death increases with longer wait times for coronary artery bypass surgery.
Supporting Evidence
- 1% of patients died before surgery, with higher rates in the high-severity group.
- The median waiting time for surgery was 10 weeks for high-severity patients and 21 weeks for low-severity patients.
- The overall death rate was 0.61 per 1,000 patient-weeks.
Takeaway
If you need heart surgery and have to wait a long time, you might be more likely to die before getting the surgery.
Methodology
Population-based prospective study analyzing 8,325 patients waiting for coronary artery bypass grafting.
Potential Biases
Potential confounding factors due to unadjusted covariates.
Limitations
The study did not adjust for available covariates and lacked data on socioeconomic status.
Participant Demographics
Patients were divided into high-severity and low-severity groups based on symptom severity and coronary artery disease extent.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.002
Confidence Interval
95% CI 0.48-0.74
Statistical Significance
p<0.001
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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