Bypass surgery was associated with lower long-term mortality than PCI
A review linked bypass surgery with lower death risk and slightly higher stroke risk in multivessel coronary disease.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
In people with multivessel coronary disease, bypass surgery was associated with lower all-cause mortality than PCI over long-term follow-up. The abstract also reports a slightly higher stroke risk after bypass surgery. Combining randomized and observational studies warrants caution: these pooled results do not establish which procedure would be best for an individual patient.
This abstract-based summary lacks absolute death risks and a numerical stroke estimate. The reported repeat-procedure result has an unclear risk-ratio direction, and the abstract does not separate randomized from observational findings.
What researchers found
Death from any cause
Bypass versus PCI over ≥5 years; 95% confidence interval 0.72–0.91. Death risk with bypass was 0.82 times that with PCI; absolute risks were not reported.
Reading the risk ratio
The risk ratio compares the chance of death between the procedure groups. It expresses relative risk; without absolute risks for each group, the abstract cannot show the difference in numbers of deaths.
The stroke trade-off
The abstract reports slightly higher stroke risk after bypass surgery and emphasizes individual clinical factors. It supplies no subgroup estimates showing how those factors might change the balance between the procedures.
The original publication
Comparing the Long-term Outcomes of Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) vs. Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) in Patients with Multivessel Disease- A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Ray R, Singla S, Virk GS et al.
Curr Cardiol Rev · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41833019
- Record checked
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