Heart surgery for those below 50

IF you have severe narrowing of the main heart arteries which compromises the blood flow to a large part of the heart muscle, you will often have to make a decision between opting for a coronary (heart) artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) or undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) - opening of the heart arteries with minimally invasive techniques using balloons and stents (small cylindrical meshes which are used to open heart arteries). If you are 50 years or below, the decision becomes more critical as you will have to look at both the risk of complications and the long-term outcomes.

Complications after heart bypass graft surgery

In a study published in Heart journal in 2003, an analysis of more than 200,000 patients who had undergone CABG showed for every 1,000 patients who have undergone CABG, 21 died within the first month, 24 had non-fatal heart attacks, 13 had non-fatal stroke, 15 had bleeding from stomach or gut and eight developed kidney failure.