heart bypass

[Golf7cyclex]

just wondering how long people’s heart bypasses have lasted? I had a double bypass twenty one years ago and a stent fitted three years ago, all seems well up to now.

[Chappychap]

Great question, unfortunately there’s no clear answer.

The BHF (who sponsor this forum) say at least half of bypass patients will go fifteen years without further intervention. And my surgeon said if you get through the first few years then you can reasonably expect twenty years.

If a patient manages a decent length of time without a graft failure then the doctors will redo surgery if necessary, consequently some of the longest surviving bypass patients have had three or even four bypass operations! So how long is a “decent period of time”? There’s no clear answer, but it’s at least five years.

There’s also a guy on this forum who claims to be the world’s longest surviving bypass patient, what’s really remarkable is he says he’s gone over forty years on the original grafts without further intervention!

The problem with any kind of definitive answer is that the bypass procedure has been refined over the years, so all things being equal you’d expect a bypass today to last longer than one from a few years ago, but it’s those earlier operations which furnish the stats for graft longevity.

Anyhow, you seem to be doing great, so long may it continue! Good luck!

[Golf7cyclex in reply to Chappychap]

thanks very much for your very good reply.