Increased risk of stroke after bypass surgery

A new study suggests that patients who have undergone bypass surgery soon after a heart attack or severe chest pain may be at an increased risk of having a stroke in the following months. Researchers at the University of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada studied more than 18,000 patients who were hospitalised for heart-related chest pain. The risk of stroke was low among these patients. Approximately 1% of them had a stroke within 6 months after being hospitalised. Patients having a previous history of stroke had a higher chance of this complication being fatal. According to the findings, strokes most commonly occurred in patients who had undergone bypass surgery. Patients who had bypass surgery within 2 weeks of having a heart attack were twice as likely to have a stroke in the following months as patients who had bypass surgery later. And they were four times as likely to have a stroke as patients who did not have bypass surgery. The risk of stroke was much higher in certain patients including the elderly and those with diabetes, a higher heart rate or a history of stroke. These findings do not mean that patients should not undergo early bypass surgery, since early surgery does have many advantages. But further studies are needed to determine whether it may be better to delay bypass surgery in patients who are at high risk. These findings highlight the need for further research to determine whether some high-risk patients might benefit from a longer delay before surgery.