Unstable angina does not increase mortality in coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

INTRODUCTION Coronary artery bypass graft is often the treatment of choice for patients who suffer from unstable angina. We do not know whether this condition adds morbidity in this scenario. OBJECTIVE To compare the outcomes of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft with unstable angina framework with patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft showed no unstable angina. METHODS Retrospective cohort study. Unstable angina was defined as acute coronary syndrome without ST elevation and without enzymatic alteration and/or class IV angina. RESULTS Between February 1996 and July 2010, to 2,818 isolated coronary artery bypass graft performed, 1,016 (36.1%) patients had unstable angina. Multivariate analysis showed that patients with preoperative unstable angina used more medications such as acetylsalicylic acid, beta-blocker, heparin (anticoagulation), nitrate and less need for diuretics than patients without unstable angina. Patients with unstable angina used increased monitoring with Swan-Ganz and support with intra-aortic balloon than stable patients. On outcomes, required longer hospitalization (P=0.030) and had a lower death rate (P=0.018) in the post-coronary artery bypass graft alone. CONCLUSION Submit patients to coronary artery bypass graft in the presence of acute coronary syndrome such as unstable angina did not increase the mortality rate.