Off-Pump vs. On-Pump CABG at 5 Years

In the multinational, randomized CORONARY trial, comparing off-pump (beating heart) with on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), the primary endpoint did not differ significantly between the two groups at 30 days or at 1 year (NEJM JW Cardiol Apr 2013 and N Engl J Med 2013; 368:1179). Researchers now report longer-term follow-up data for the 4752 trial participants.

At a mean follow-up of 4.8 years, the two groups did not differ significantly in the composite endpoint of death, stroke, myocardial infarction, renal failure, or repeat coronary revascularization (off-pump, 23.1%; on-pump, 23.6%), in any of the individual endpoint components, or in mean cost per patient. The primary outcome was also similar between the two groups specifi…