Should all patients be treated with an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor after coronary artery bypass graft surgery? The impact of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, statins, and β-blockers after coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Background: We sought to evaluate the association between angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and outcomes after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG).

Methods: Postoperative outpatient utilization of ACE inhibitors, statins, and β-blockers was assessed in a cohort of 3,718 patients after CABG 65 years and older. The primary outcome was freedom from a composite of all-cause mortality or hospital readmission for cardiac events or procedures.

Results: Use of all 3 medication classes increased significantly over the study period. Female patients and patients with a history of myocardial infarction, diabetes, and poor left ventricular function were independently associated with ACE inhibitor use on multivariate analysis (all P < .05). At a median follow-up of 3 years, postoperative therapy with an ACE inhibitor had no effect on death or rehospitalization for cardiovascular events (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 1.12, 95% CI 0.96-1.30, P = .16). However, statins (HR 0.65, 95% CI 0.57-0.74, P < .0001) and β-blockers (HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.74-0.93, P = .001) were associated with a significantly improved event-free survival.

Conclusions: Among patients after CABG 65 years or older, ACE inhibitors had no independent effect on mortality or recurrent ischemic events in the midterm after CABG, although a benefit was observed for statins and β-blockers.