Objectives: Examine short- and intermediate-term survival after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and compare this to survival of the general population and to that predicted by EuroSCORE.
Design: One thousand three hundred and fifty one consecutive patients undergoing CABG were prospectively included. Survival status was ascertained through the Norwegian National Registry.
Results: Compared to the general population, no statistical significant difference in survival was seen in operated patients. Overall mortality rate was 0.8% after 30 days, 2.8%, 4.0% and 7.1% at one, two and three years, respectively. When patients were divided into four groups according to EuroSCORE, mortality increased significantly with increasing score, as expected. However, EuroSCORE overestimated mortality.
Conclusion: Patients operated with CABG at our institution have similar survival as in the general Norwegian population. Although overestimating mortality by almost five-fold, we found a strong association between EuroSCORE and short-time survival, and an association between EuroSCORE and intermediate-term survival.