Life expectancy after coronary artery surgery

Williams syndrome

Williams syndrome (WS) is a relatively rare microdeletion disorder that occurs in as many as 1:7,500 individuals. WS arises due to the mispairing of low-copy DNA repetitive elements at meiosis. The deletion size is similar across most individuals with WS and leads to the loss of one copy of 25-27 genes on chromosome 7q11.23. The resulting unique disorder affects multiple systems, with cardinal features including but not limited to cardiovascular disease (characteristically stenosis of the great arteries and most notably supravalvar aortic stenosis), a distinctive craniofacial appearance, and a specific cognitive and behavioural profile that includes intellectual disability and hypersociability. Genotype-phenotype evidence is strongest for ELN, the gene encoding elastin, which is responsible for the vascular and connective tissue features of WS, and for the transcription factor genes GTF2I and GTF2IRD1, which are known to affect intellectual ability, social functioning and anxiety. Mounting evidence also ascribes phenotypic consequences to the deletion of BAZ1B, LIMK1, STX1A and MLXIPL, but more work is needed to understand the mechanism by which these deletions contribute to clinical outcomes. The age of diagnosis has fallen in regions of the world where technological advances, such as chromosomal microarray, enable clinicians to make the diagnosis of WS without formally suspecting it, allowing earlier intervention by medical and developmental specialists. Phenotypic variability is considerable for all cardinal features of WS but the specific sources of this variability remain unknown. Further investigation to identify the factors responsible for these differences may lead to mechanism-based rather than symptom-based therapies and should therefore be a high research priority.

Simultaneous revascularization for critical coronary and peripheral vascular ischemia

Patients with coronary artery disease can exhibit substantial vascular involvement, and patients with vascular disease have a high incidence of coronary disease. Simultaneous coronary artery bypass grafting and treatment of vascular disease was performed in 32 patients with strong indications for surgical treatment of coronary artery disease and critical peripheral vascular ischemia operated on from 1980 until 1990. Overall hospital mortality was 3.1%; 1 patient died of myocardial infarction 2 days after urgent combined revascularization because of unstable angina pectoris and subacute occlusion of the aortoiliac bifurcation. Early mortality was 0% in patients undergoing elective operations. Eight-year actuarial survival was 87.5%. Combined procedures can be performed with acceptable risk and with encouraging long-term results in this special group of patients; they may improve prognosis in patients with diffuse atherosclerosis.

Coronary artery disease in peripheral vascular patients. A classification of 1000 coronary angiograms and results of surgical management

In an attempt to reduce early and late mortality caused by myocardial infarction, coronary angiography was performed in 1000 patients (mean age, 64 years) under consideration for elective peripheral vascular reconstruction since 1978. Those found to have severe, surgically correctable coronary artery disease (CAD) were advised to undergo myocardial revascularization (CABG), usually preceding other vascular procedures. The primary vascular diagnosis was abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in 263 patients (mean age, 67 years), cerebrovascular disease (CVD) in 295 (mean age, 64 years), and lower extremity ischemia (ASO) in 381 (mean age, 61 years). Severe correctable CAD was identified in 25% of the entire series (AAA, 31%; CVD, 26%; and ASO, 21%). Surgical CAD was documented in 34% of patients suspected to have CAD by clinical criteria (AAA, 44%; CVD, 33%; and ASO, 30%) and in 14% of those without previous indications of CAD (AAA, 18%; CVD, 17%; and ASO, 8%). Cardiac procedures (216 CABG) were performed in 226 patients (AAA, 30%; CVD, 22%; and ASO, 19%), with 12 (5.3%) postoperative deaths. A total of 796 patients underwent 1066 peripheral vascular operations with an early mortality of 2.0% (AAA, 3.4%; ASO, 1.9%; and CVD, 0.3%), but only one death (0.8%) occurred in the group of 130 patients having preliminary CABG. The overall operative mortality for 1292 cardiac and peripheral vascular procedures was 2.6%.

On the improving chances of the cancer patient

The cancer hazard rate (or force of mortality) of all cancer survival curves of the 4th Report on End Results in Cancer, continuously declines. This pattern recurs also in breast cancer patients refusing treatment. The declining hazard rate is most conspicuous in Cancer and much less pronounced in other chronic diseases. In most of them the hazard rate actually increases. Such is obvious in any actuarial life table, in which the rising pattern represents aging and will therefore be denominated herewith as Aging pattern. It accompanies also many chronic diseases e.g. diabetes, following operation for peptic ulcer, young survivors from coronary occlusion, or cirrhosis. The cancer hazard rate exhibits a trend observable during regeneration and is viewed here to reflect a regenerative process operating in cancer which is ascribed to Neoplasia.