Comparison of Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery and Medical Therapy in Patients 65 Years of Age or Older

Abstract

We compared the results of coronary artery bypass surgery with those of medical therapy alone in 1491 nonrandomized patients 65 years of age or older. Cumulative survival at six years (adjusted for major differences in important base-line characteristics) was 79 per cent in the surgical group and 64 per cent in the medical group (P<0.0001). At five years, chest pain was absent in 62 per cent of the surgical group and 29 per cent of the medical group (P<0.0001). Analysis by the Cox proportional-hazards model suggested an independent beneficial effect of surgery on survival (P<0.0001).