BEST trial was published in 2015, comparing CABG and the latest technological advancement of PCI, second generation Drug-eluting stents in multivessel disease. Their results were indicative of CABG being a better option for patients with CAD. A trial published in 2021 (Fractional Flow Reserve versus Angiography for Multivessel Evaluation, FAME 3), also concluded that CABG is a safer option than PCI, when comparing results after one year from intervention. Complications
The most common complications of CABG are postoperative bleeding, heart failure, Atrial fibrillation (a form of arrhythmia), stroke, renal dysfunction, and sternal wound infections.Postoperative bleeding occurs in 2-5% of cases and might force the cardiac team to take the patient back to operating theatre to control the bleeding The most common criterion for that is the amount blood drained by chest tubes, left after the operation. Re-operation addresses surgical causes of that bleeding, which might originate from the aorta, the anastomosis or a branch of the conduit insufficiently sealed or from the sternum. Medical causes of bleeding include platelet abnormalities or coagulopathy due to bypass or the rebound heparin effect (heparin administered at the beginning of CPB reappears at blood after its neutralization by protamine).As for heart failure, low cardiac output syndrome (LCOS) can occur up to 14% of CABG cases and is according to its severity, is treated with inotropes, IABP, optimization of pre- and afterload, or correction of blood gauzes and electrolytes. The aim is to keep a systolic blood pressure above 90mmHg and cardiac index (CI) more than 2.2 L/min/m2. LCOS is often transient.
A reclined position and forced bed rest were the most beneficial.Other treatments evident from the previous studies were improving physique and posture, appropriate levels of exercise where possible, wearing loose clothing about the waist, and avoiding postural changes such as stooping, or lying on the left or right side, or the back in some cases, which relieved some of the palpitations and chest pains, and standing up slowly can prevent the faintness associated with postural or orthostatic hypotension in some cases. Pharmacological intervention came in the form of digitalis, a group of glycoside drugs derived from the foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), which is now known to act as a sodium-potassium ATPase inhibitor, increasing stroke volume and decreasing heart rate; at the time it was used for the latter effect in patients with palpitations. History
Da Costas syndrome is named for the surgeon Jacob Mendes Da Costa, who first observed it in soldiers during the American Civil War. At the time it was proposed, Da Costas syndrome was seen as a very desirable physiological explanation for "soldiers heart". Use of the term "Da Costas syndrome" peaked in the early 20th century. Towards the mid-century, the condition was generally re-characterized as a form of neurosis. It was initially classified as "F45.3" (under somatoform disorder of the heart and cardiovascular system) in ICD-10, and is now classified under "somatoform autonomic dysfunction". Da Costas syndrome involves a set of symptoms which include left-sided chest pains, palpitations, breathlessness, and fatigue in response to exertion.