The new cardiac surgery patient: defying previous expectations.

BACKGROUND: Studies conducted before 1999 of patients who had coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) have shown a tendency toward increasing preoperative risk factors. This study examines whether this trend of increasing risk in patients who have cardiac surgery has continued since 1999 and whether its effect on mortality and morbidity has changed. METHODS: We prospectively collected data for 2754 patients who had cardiac surgery, divided …