Aortocoronary Bypass Graft for Preinfarction Angina

Three patients with severe ischemic heart disease in the preinfarction stage have been operated upon. The acute attacks were relieved by the saphenous vein aortocoronary bypass graft and in each case an impending myocardial infarction was probably prevented. In all cases patency of the grafts were demonstrated by follow-up cineangiograms and an improvement in cardiac pump function was documented. All three patients were discharged within four weeks after surgery free of symptoms. The success with these patients in altering the course of an acute myocardial infarction should alert the physicians to a new preventive step towards a deadly disease.