Smoking cessation is associated with reduced long-term mortality and the need for repeat interventions after coronary artery bypass grafting

Abstract

Design: A prospective study.

Methods: We estimated the impact of smoking cessation on long-term mortality and the need for a revascularization procedure in 1027 patients undergoing a first-ever coronary artery bypass-grafting.

Results and discussion: Of the 640 active smokers, 44.7% continued smoking after CABG ('current smokers'), and 55.3% quit. During a 5310 patient-years follow-up, with never smokers as the reference group, current smokers (but not quitters) experienced a significant increase in total mortality (hazard ratio 2.6, 95% confidence interval 1.0-6.6) mainly owing to increased cardiovascular mortality (hazard ratio 4.8, 95% confidence interval 1.1-21.4), as well as increased need for a repeat revascularization procedure (hazard ratio 1.7, 95% confidence interval 1.0-2.9).