Study: Being Obese Does Not Increase Complications for Coronary Bypass Patients

Being obese does not increase the risk that heart patients face when they undergo coronary artery bypass graft surgery, according to a study reported in the August 20 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The study involved 4,372 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery from April 1996 to September 2001. British researchers analyzed the outcomes according to the body mass index of patients.

Study author Gianni Angelini of the Bristol Heart Institute said he and his colleagues were surprised to find out that obese or severely overweight patients had the same low level of complications as the patients who were of normal weight.

Overweight bypass patients were also less likely to need transfusions than normal weight patients and actually fared better during and after the procedure than below normal weight patients, according to the researchers.

Dr. Angelini said the good results in obese and overweight patients could be due to some extra care exercised by surgeons.

"I suspect there is an element of bias on the part of surgeons," Angelini siad. "Since surgeons have this idea that obese patients are high risk, then probably everybody is much more on their toes, so there may be a different element of attention to detail. It may also apply later on to the management in intensive care."

Angelini said the results indicate that surgeons do not need to be more cautious about bypass surgery for their overweight patients. He said patients should be assessed according to all their risk factors, not only weight.

In an accompanying editorial, Drs. Carl Lavie and Richard Milani, at the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans, said the findings indicate that obese patients should not be denied the potential benefits of bypass surgery.

Although the study is good news for obese bypass patients, Lavie and Milani said it should not minimize the health threat of obesity.

Other sources: American College of Cardiology