Troponin T and N-Terminal Pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide Are Associated with Long-Term All-Cause Mortality in Patients with Post-Sternotomy Mediastinitis following Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: A 15-Year Follow-Up Study.

Background: Deep sternal wound/mediastinitis is a rare but feared complication in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients and seems to increase the risk of cardiac death, and is also associated with the risk of early internal mammary artery (IMA) graft obstruction. The pathological mechanism explaining the link between mediastinitis and IMA graft obstruction and the impact on mortality is complex, multifactorial, and not fully investigated.

Objectives: Mediastinitis has been associated with increased concentrations of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and troponin T (TnT) at mid-term follow-up, representing persistent low-grade myocardial injury and impaired cardiac function.

Long-term survival after coronary bypass surgery and percutaneous coronary intervention.

Objectives: To assess whether there exists a long-term difference in survival after treatment with coronary bypass surgery or percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with coronary disease as judged by all-cause mortality.

Methods: Retrospective study from the Feiring Heart Clinic database of survival in 22 880 patients-15 078 treated with percutaneous coronary intervention and 7802 with bypass surgery followed up to 16 years.

Results: Cox regression and propensity score analysis showed no difference in survival for one-vessel and two-vessel disease during the whole study period.

Survival difference between coronary bypass surgery and percutaneous coronary intervention.

Objectives: To assess whether the previously observed lower death rate with coronary artery bypass surgery compared with percutaneous coronary intervention in subsets of patients with coronary artery disease persists in more recent years.

Design: Retrospective study from Feiring Heart Clinic database of survival in 17739 patients followed for 5 years after coronary revascularization. The cohorts treated in 1999-2005 and 2006-2011 were compared using Cox regression and propensity score analyses.