Reoperative coronary surgery. Comparative analysis of 6591 patients undergoing primary bypass and 508 patients undergoing reoperative coronary artery bypass.

During an 18-year period a consecutive series of 6591 patients underwent primary coronary bypass grafting and 508 patients underwent reoperative bypass. The mean patient age for the reoperative group was identical to that of the primary group, 59.8 years, but the mean age at initial operation for the reoperative group was 55.2 years. Mammary grafts were done at initial operation in 59% of patients who have had one operation versus only 46% of patients who subsequently required reoperation (p less than 0.001). The overall operative mortality rate was 2.0% (134/6591) for primary coronary bypass versus 6.9% (35/508) for reoperations (p less than 0.001). Patients with a reoperative interval of 1 to 10 years had a 6.0% (18/312) mortality rate, compared with 17.6% (13/74) for those in whom the interval between operations was greater than 10 years (p less than 0.01). Ventricular arrhythmias, excessive bleeding, prolonged ventilatory support, intraaortic balloon pump insertion (all p less than 0.05), and perioperative myocardial infarction (p less than 0.001) were all more prevalent after reoperations. Including perioperative mortality, the actuarial survival rate at 5 years was 80% for reoperations versus 90% for primary operations. The corresponding figures at 10 years were 65% and 75%. The probability of undergoing reoperation within 5 and 10 years was 0.034 +/- 0.003 and 0.055 +/- 0.005, respectively. Ten years postoperatively, 36% of patients having the initial operation had recurrent angina whereas 58% of the reoperative group had significant recurrent angina. Ten years after reoperation, 30% of operative survivors were free of heart-related morbidity and mortality compared with 50% of patients having a primary operation. Univariate analysis of factors increasing the probability of reoperation include the absence of a mammary graft and younger age at operation. Patients undergoing a second bypass operation represent a substantially higher risk subgroup than patients undergoing initial operation in terms of perioperative morbidity, mortality, decreased long-term survival, and decreased relief of recurrent cardiac morbidity.