Body mass index as a determinant of postoperative morbidity

1Namık Kemal University Hospital Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Tekirdağ; 2Trakya University Hospital Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Edirne; 3State Hospital Department of Cardiology, Tekrdag, Turkey Correspondence: Selami Gurkan, Namik Kemal Universitesi Hastanesi, Kalp Damar Cerrahisi Klinigi, 59100, Tekirdag, Turkey. Telephone 90 0282 2505249, fax 90 0282 2620310, e-mail [email protected] Once considered to be a high-income country problem, overweight and obesity are now on the rise in lowand middle-income countries, becoming the fifth-leading risk for global deaths (1). Body fat content is roughly defined by body mass index (BMI) as a measure of body fat accumulation, and is known to be a major risk factor for diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HT) and coronary artery disease (2-5). There are conflicting studies in literature about the impact of obesity on postoperative mortality and morbidity in coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Some studies report lower BMI values increase postoperative mortality and morbidity (6-8), while others claim the opposite (9-11). In the present study, we investigated the effect of increasing BMI on in-hospital mortality and morbidity after isolated CABG surgery.