The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol 92, 181-185, Copyright © 1986 by The American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Western Thoracic Surgical Association
Thoracic and cardiovascular operations in the United States, 1979 to 1984
IM Rutkow
Using data from the National Center for Health Statistics, I conducted an
in-depth analysis of numbers of thoracic and cardiovascular operations from
1979 to 1984. This is the first full 5 year period since the inception of
International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical
Modification codes, and the findings delineate the present status of
thoracic and cardiovascular surgery in the United States. During the study
period there was a 34% increase in total numbers of thoracic and
cardiovascular operations. Since 1970 there has been a total increase in
numbers of thoracic and cardiovascular operations of 150%. In 1983 thoracic
and cardiovascular surgeons performed 191,000 coronary artery bypasses.
This operation is the most common thoracic and cardiovascular procedure and
has become the nineteenth most common operation now performed in this
country. Pacemaker placement, revision, or removal (190,000) is the second
most common thoracic and cardiovascular operation and the country's
twentieth. The twenty most common thoracic and cardiovascular operations
constitute 87% of all thoracic and cardiovascular operations. In 1983
thoracic and cardiovascular operations represented 3% of all operations
completed in this country. These figures represent the dynamics of thoracic
and cardiovascular surgical practice. They demonstrate that numbers of
thoracic and cardiovascular operations have consistently increased over the
past 15 years. However, this increase is almost entirely due to the advent
of coronary artery bypass.
