What was the purpose of the Veterans Administration Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery Cooperative Study Group?
The purpose of the Veterans Administration Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery Cooperative Study Group was to measure the eleven-year survival rate of coronary bypass surgery for stable angina patients. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1984 and involved 374 patients from the Coronary Artery Surgery Study (CASS). The study found that the survival rate was significantly higher in the bypass surgery group compared to the control group. The study also found that the angiographic indices of coronary artery disease had a prognostic value in predicting the outcome of the surgery. Additionally, the study found that patients with left main coronary artery stenosis had a higher risk of mortality when treated with bypass surgery. Follow-up studies conducted in 1990 and 1994 confirmed the results of the original study.  