A new study published today in the journal Circulation finds that two competing approaches to coronary bypass surgery are equally effective. Researchers compared the conventional technique of stopping the heart and using a heart lung machine to the newer approach, in which surgeons operate while the heart is still beating. The study, which was sponsored by the American Heart Association, found very little difference in outcomes between the two strategies. "The key is to try to figure out what might be the right operation for each individual patient," says Dr. Walter Merrill, the University of Cincinnati's chief of cardiothoracic surgery.
- see this story from the Associated Press