Medical News

Bypass grafts may not be best treatment for some angina patients  An Alabama study indicates that bypass grafting may not be particularly advantageous for patients with stable angina pectoris who have occlusive disease confined to the anterior descending coronary artery.According to Nicholas T. Kouchoukos, MD, associate professor of surgery at the University of Alabama, this treatment should probably be reserved for such patients who have severe angina and impaired exercise performance that do not respond adequately to medical management."We don't think that bypass grafting should be done to prevent myocardial infarction," Dr. Kouchoukos told the American College of Cardiology meeting in New York. "The only apparent advantages of bypass grafting over medical therapy in the early years following diagnosis are better relief of angina and some improvement in exercise testing in this group of patients."Fifty-three patients with stable angina who had coronary arteriography at the university