Ultee, KRouwet, EHoeks, Svan Lier, FBastos Gonçalves, FBoersma, EStolker, RVerhagen, H2015-11-202015-11-202015-06J Vasc Surg. 2015 Jun;61(6):1543-9.e1http://hdl.handle.net/10400.17/2345OBJECTIVE: Although evidence has shown that ischemic heart disease (IHD) in vascular surgery patients has a negative impact on the prognosis after surgery, it is unclear whether directed treatment of IHD may influence cause-specific and overall mortality. The objective of this study was to determine the prognostic implication of coronary revascularization (CR) on overall and cause-specific mortality in vascular surgery patients. METHODS: Patients undergoing surgery for abdominal aortic aneurysm, carotid artery stenosis, or peripheral artery disease in a university hospital in The Netherlands between January 2003 and December 2011 were retrospectively included. Survival estimates were obtained by Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 1104 patients were included. Adjusted survival analyses showed that IHD significantly increased the risk of overall mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.21-1.87) and cardiovascular death (HR, 1.93; 95% confidence interval, 1.35-2.76). Compared with those without CR, patients previously undergoing CR had similar overall mortality (HR, 1.38 vs 1.62; P = .274) and cardiovascular mortality (HR, 1.83 vs 2.02; P = .656). Nonrevascularized IHD patients were more likely to die of IHD (6.9% vs 35.7%), whereas revascularized IHD patients more frequently died of cardiovascular causes unrelated to IHD (39.1% vs 64.3%; P = .018). CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the significance of IHD for postoperative survival of vascular surgery patients. CR was associated with lower IHD-related death rates. However, it failed to provide an overall survival benefit because of an increased rate of cardiovascular mortality unrelated to IHD. Intensification of secondary prevention regimens may be required to prevent this shift toward non-IHD-related death and thereby improve life expectancy.engHSM CIR VASCAortic Aneurysm, Abdominal/complicationsAortic Aneurysm, Abdominal/diagnosisAortic Aneurysm, Abdominal/mortalityAortic Aneurysm, Abdominal/surgery*Carotid Stenosis/complicationsCarotid Stenosis/diagnosisCarotid Stenosis/mortalityCarotid Stenosis/surgeryCause of DeathChi-Square DistributionCoronary Artery Bypass/adverse effectsCoronary Artery Bypass/mortalityHospitals, UniversityKaplan-Meier EstimateLife ExpectancyMultivariate AnalysisMyocardial Ischemia/complicationsMyocardial Ischemia/diagnosisMyocardial Ischemia/mortalityMyocardial Ischemia/therapyNetherlandsPercutaneous Coronary Intervention/adverse effectsPercutaneous Coronary Intervention/mortalityPeripheral Arterial Disease/complicationsPeripheral Arterial Disease/diagnosisPeripheral Arterial Disease/mortalityPeripheral Arterial Disease/surgeryPostoperative Complications/mortalityProportional Hazards ModelsRetrospective StudiesRisk AssessmentRisk FactorsTime FactorsTreatment OutcomeVascular Surgical Procedures/adverse effectsVascular Surgical Procedures/mortalityjournal article10.1016/j.jvs.2015.01.033