We currently have an incomplete understanding of which postoperative complications after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) are associated with long-term death. The purpose of this study was to find the associations between complications and attributable death.
Prospectively collected data on patient characteristics, risk factors, and complications of patients undergoing isolated CABG with 20-year follow-up were analyzed with a Cox regression model to calculate the overall hazard of dying associated with each postoperative complication. An individual's age and hazard of dying from each complication were then used to calculate years of life lost to each complication.
The postoperative mortality rate was 0.79% (69 of 8,773) at 30 days, 2.85% (250 of 8,773) at 180 days, and 6.38% (560 of 8,773) at 2 years. At a median follow-up of 9.8 years, 1,891 patients (21.6%) had died. Postoperative complications occurred in 3,438 patients (39.2%). Cardiac arrest (hazard ratio, 2.153), reoperation (hazard ratio, 1.679), and new dialysis (hazard ratio, 1.64) were the complications with the greatest hazard of death. After adjusting for complication incidence and patient age, cardiac arrest (703 years), reoperation (544 years), atrial fibrillation (470 years), and prolonged mechanical ventilation (371 years) were associated with the greatest number of years of life lost.
Acute cardiac arrest, reoperation for other cardiac reasons, new dialysis, atrial fibrillation, and prolonged mechanical ventilation are associated with the largest increase in attributable deaths. Prevention and treatment of these complications may improve mortality rates after cardiac operations.