Post-CABG risk of death increased for blacks with PAD

(HealthDay)—For patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), the risk of death is higher for those with peripheral artery disease (PAD), particularly for black versus white patients, according to a study published online June 3 in the Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

Jimmy T. Efird, Ph.D., from East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., and colleagues conducted a retrospective study involving 13,053 CABG patients from 1992 to 2011. Long-term survival, stratified by race, was compared for patients with and without PAD. Patients were followed for a median of 8.3 years.

The researchers found that 1,501 (11 percent) CABG patients had PAD, including 311 blacks and 1,190 whites. There were significant racial differences observed in long-term survival (no PAD: hazard ratio [HR], 1.0; white PAD: adjusted HR, 1.5; black PAD: adjusted HR, 2.1; P < 0.0001 for trend).

"In conclusion, the risk of death after CABG was comparatively higher among black PAD patients," the authors write. "This finding provides useful outcome information for surgeons and their patients and suggests a need for closer follow-up of black PAD patients."