Mayo Clinic: Surgery Gets Okay for Obese Heart Patients
September 22, 2005 A report in this month's Mayo Clinic Proceedings says that bariatric surgery is a safe option for treating obese patients who have coronary artery disease.
The findings are important because coronary artery disease patients can see a significant benefit with a successful procedure. The resulting weight loss is also followed by an improvement in blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and sleep apnea, all factors linked to coronary artery disease.
According to Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, M.D., Mayo Clinic cardiologist and lead author of the study: "The surgery appears to be safe in properly evaluated patients with cardiovascular disease."
But Lopez-Jimenez says
additional research is needed to determine the effect of bariatric surgery on cardiovascular events among these patients.
The analysis by the Mayo researchers included 52 patients who were identified with coronary artery disease, who underwent bariatric surgery at Mayo Clinic Rochester between March 1995 and January 2002. The effects on body weight and other cardiovascular risk factors were analyzed after surgery.