What is a coronary artery bypass graft?

Dr. Mehmet Oz answered:

A coronary artery bypass graft, or CABG for short, is a surgical procedure to treat coronary artery disease. Watch this animation to learn more about the procedure.

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A coronary artery bypass graft, or CABG for short, is a surgical procedure to treat coronary artery disease. Watch this animation to learn more about the procedure. More

Johns Hopkins Medicine answered:

Coronary artery bypass grafting, or CABG, involves placing artery and/or vein grafts to detour blood around blockages to improve the blood supply to your heart muscle. These grafts are usually taken from healthy arteries elsewhere in the patient's body. This procedure is one of the most common heart surgeries, with over 150,000 performed per year. Interestingly enough, the sicker your heart is, the more effective the operation. The first CABG was performed at Johns Hopkins in 1962 by Dr. John Sabiston.

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Coronary artery bypass grafting, or CABG, involves placing artery and/or vein grafts to detour blood around blockages to improve the blood supply to your heart muscle. These grafts are usually taken from healthy arteries elsewhere in the patient's... More

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital answered:

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is the most common surgical treatment for acquired heart disease. With this method, a blood vessel taken from the tissues of the chest, arms, or legs is used to route blood around blockages in the coronary arteries to restore adequate circulation of blood to the heart.

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Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is the most common surgical treatment for acquired heart disease. With this method, a blood vessel taken from the tissues of the chest, arms, or legs is used to route blood around blockages in the coronary... More

SCAI answered:

Also known as coronary artery bypass surgery (or CABG – pronounced like the vegetable cabbage), bypass surgery is one way to treat heart artery blockages. It is a major operation performed in a hospital operating room. The surgeon uses a patient’s own arteries or veins to create a detour so blood can flow around a blockage in a heart artery, much like a detour around a washed-out bridge.

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Also known as coronary artery bypass surgery (or CABG – pronounced like the vegetable cabbage), bypass surgery is one way to treat heart artery blockages. It is a major operation performed in a hospital operating room. The surgeon uses a... More

American Heart Association answered:

Coronary artery bypass graft, often referred to by its initials CABG or as coronary bypass surgery or simply bypass surgery, is a surgical procedure used to reroute the blood supply around a blocked section of a coronary artery. Surgeons remove healthy blood vessels from another part of the body, such as a leg or the chest wall. Then they surgically attach the vessels to the diseased artery to let the blood flow around the blocked section.

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Coronary artery bypass graft, often referred to by its initials CABG or as coronary bypass surgery or simply bypass surgery, is a surgical procedure used to reroute the blood supply around a blocked section of a coronary artery. Surgeons remove... More

Dr. William D. Knopf of Piedmont Heart Institute answered:

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is a type of surgery called revascularization, used to improve blood flow to the heart in people with severe CAD.

CAD occurs when the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle become blocked due to the buildup of a material called plaque on the inside of the blood vessels. If the blockage is severe, chest pain, shortness of breath, and, in some cases, heart attack can occur.

CABG is one treatment for CAD. During CABG, a healthy artery or vein from another part of the body is connected, or grafted, to the blocked coronary artery. The grafted artery or vein bypasses the blocked portion of the coronary artery. This new passage routes oxygen-rich blood around the blockage to the heart muscle. As many as four major blocked coronary arteries can be bypassed during one surgery.

Overview

CABG is the most common type of open-heart surgery in the United States

CABG isn't used for everyone with CAD. Many people with CAD can be treated by other means, such as lifestyle changes, medicines, and another revascularization procedure called angioplasty.

CABG may be an option if you have blockages in the heart that can't be treated with angioplasty.

If you're a candidate for CABG, the goals of having the surgery are to:

Improve your quality of life and decrease angina and other symptoms of CAD
Resume a more active lifestyle
Improve the pumping action of the heart if it has been damaged by a heart attack
Lower the chances of a heart attack
Improve your chance of survival
Repeat surgery may be needed if grafted arteries or veins become blocked, or if new blockages develop in arteries that weren't blocked before. Taking medicines as prescribed and making lifestyle changes that your doctor recommends can lower the chance of a graft becoming blocked.

In people who are candidates for the surgery, the results are usually excellent, with 85 percent of people having significantly reduced symptoms, less risk for future heart attacks, and a decreased chance of dying within 10 years following the surgery.

This answer from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute has been reviewed and/or edited by Dr. William D. Knopf.

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Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is a type of surgery called revascularization, used to improve blood flow to the heart in people with severe CAD. CAD occurs when the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle become blocked due to the... More

American Diabetes Association answered:

During a coronary artery bypass graft, also called a bypass or CABG, a blood vessel taken from the leg, wrist, or chest is attached to the coronary artery to bypass a blockage and restore blood flow to the heart.

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During a coronary artery bypass graft, also called a bypass or CABG, a blood vessel taken from the leg, wrist, or chest is attached to the coronary artery to bypass a blockage and restore blood flow to the heart. More

Columbia University Department of Surgery answered:

Coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG) deliver a new source of blood to regions of the heart served by blocked arteries. Surgeons use segments of the patient's own veins and arteries to go around, or bypass, these blockages. If left untreated, severely blocked arteries may lead to heart attack or death. Coronary bypass operations are performed half a million times a year with an overall success rate of almost 98%.

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Coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG) deliver a new source of blood to regions of the heart served by blocked arteries. Surgeons use segments of the patient's own veins and arteries to go around, or bypass, these blockages. If left untreated,... More

Healthwise answered:

Coronary artery bypass graft surgery is done to go around a portion of an artery that has been narrowed or blocked by plaque buildup (atherosclerosis). It is a treatment for coronary artery disease.

The blocked portion of the artery is bypassed using a blood vessel taken from elsewhere in the body (usually the chest or leg). Blood is redirected through the new blood vessel, restoring blood flow to the affected portion of the heart muscle.