title: Rationale for simultaneous carotid endarterectomy and aortocoronary bypass.
abstract: Seventy-eight patients were treated for coexistent carotid and coronary stenosis by simultaneous reconstructions. Five patients died (6.4%), one from a stroke contralateral to the carotid reconstruction. Four others suffered a perioperative stroke (total stroke incidence 6.4%). Three myocardial infarctions occurred (3.8%) including one fatal infarct. Analysis of the most recent 36 combined reconstructions indicates that the extramorbidity in this group increased the stroke or death rate for all carotid endarterectomies carried out in the same period by only 1%. Alternatively if these patients had been operated upon by aortocoronary grafting alone the mortality would have increased by 0.1% assuming no neurologic complications. Since these 36 patients had severe carotid stenosis and would have been refused carotid endarterectomy as an isolated procedure the results seem better than would have been achieved by staged operations.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000601:surgery*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D004691:Endarterectomy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality; D012307:Risk Factors