Effort dyspnea after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Two series of consecutive patients with disabling effort angina were studied prospectively. From the first series, 94 survivors were followed up 9 months after coronary artery bypass grafting. Thirty-five patients (37%) reported that they still suffered from effort angina. Another 26 patients (28%) also used to stop when walking uphill/upstairs but because of dyspnea and 2 (2%) because of leg fatigue. A symptom-limited exercise test performed in 24 of the 26 with dyspnea revealed effort angina in 2 patients and high-degree dyspnea (mean grade 6.6 of 10) in 22. The exercise capacity was less than normal in 16 of these 22 patients. The number of peripheral anastomoses did not differ between the 26 dyspnea patients and the 31 free from effort restriction, nor did the incidence of perioperative infarctions or treatment with diuretics and beta-blocking drugs at follow-up. The second series of 95 survivors confirmed the high prevalence of disabling dyspnea after coronary artery bypass grafting (24%) and showed that it was not predictable. We conclude that physical fitness is restored in less than half the patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.