Is Peripheral Artery Disease an Independent Predictor of Isolated Coronary Artery Bypass Outcome

Aim The aim was to use a propensity score-based analysis to determine the impact of peripheral artery disease (PAD) on early outcomes after coronary artery bypass surgery grafting (CABG) in patients with PAD. Method We conducted a multicentre retrospective analysis of 11,311 consecutive patients who underwent CABG between 1997 and 2017. Patients with previous or concomitant vascular surgery were excluded. The main end points were death, stroke, and limb ischaemia requiring percutaneous or surgical revascularisation. Subgroup analyses were performed to test the interaction of PAD with concomitant factors. Results There was no difference in mortality in patients with and without PAD (p=0.06 and p=0.179, respectively). Patients with PAD had a greater incidence of stroke (p=0.04), acute kidney disease (p=0.003), and limb ischaemia requiring interventions (p Conclusions The presence of PAD is associated, independently of other factors, with greater incidence of stroke, acute kidney disease, and limb ischaemia following CABG, irrespective of the technique employed. Operative mortality was greater in patients with PAD only when associated with long cardiopulmonary bypass and aortic cross-clamp times, and low cardiac output.