Highlights the increasing importance of quality of life and patient preference in evaluating the efficacy of minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting.
In addition to the achievements in technique and technology that off-pump myocardial revascularization presents, minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting (MICABG) has subtly made quality of life (QOL) a major concern of cardiac surgeons around the world. Advances in treatment and the subsequent decline in CABG surgery mortality rates over the last 20 yr introduced a need to incorporate these subjective measures in studies evaluating treatment efficacy (1). The most recent elevation of QOL to the forefront of the medical decision-making process stems directly from the unfailing invocation of patient preference as a primary benefit balancing the known risks of MICABG. This may present a renewed opportunity to commit the focus of medicine more closely and consistently toward patient preferences for outcomes.
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Choi et al. (1999) studied this question.
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