Perioperative outcomes of coronary artery bypass graft surgery in Johannesburg, South Africa

BACKGROUND: The perioperative complications in patients with coronary artery disease undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery have been reported predominantly from developed countries, with a paucity of data from sub-Saharan Africa. We aim to report on the clinical characteristics and perioperative complications in patients with obstructive coronary artery disease, managed with CABG surgery at a tertiary academic hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed data from adult patients who underwent CABG surgery during a 17-year period (January 2000 – December 2017). Data was collected from the cardiothoracic surgery department’s pre- and postoperative reports, the cardiology department’s medical records, and anaesthesiology’s intra-operative reports. We collected demographic, biochemical, clinical, surgical, echocardiographic, and angiographic data. Outcomes data collected included perioperative complications and mortality. RESULTS: We analysed 1218 consecutive patient records. The study cohort consisted of 951 (78.1%) males, and the mean age was 60.1 ± 10.1 years. During the study period, 137 (11.2%) patients demised with cardiac and sepsis-related causes of death accounting for 49.6 and 37.2%, respectively. Other perioperative complications included excessive bleeding in 222 (18.2%), prolonged ventilation (exceeding 48 h) in 139 (11.4%), and sternal sepsis in 125 (10.3%). On univariate logistic regression analysis, advanced age, a lower left ventricular ejection fraction, smoking, increased cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) time, and a higher European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) II were all significantly associated with mortality. The EuroSCORE II [OR: 0.15 95%CI: 0.09–0.22; p = 0.000], and prolonged CPB time [OR: 0.01 CI: 0.00–0.02; p = 0.000] were independent predictors of in-hospital all-cause mortality. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, the crude perioperative mortality rate was 11.2%. Our mortality rate was significantly higher than the mortality rates reported in other developed and developing countries. To better understand the factors driving this high mortality rate, a prospective outcomes registry has been initiated, and this promises to inform on our contemporary mortality and morbidity outcomes.