People with diabetes have an increased risk of problems after heart by-pass surgery, researchers have found. [s]Medicinenet[/s] reports that they looked at more than 9,200 patients in [b]China[/b] who underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery between 1999 and 2008, and found that those with diabetes had worse outcomes after two years than those without the condition. Costs were also higher among patients with diabetes, with the expenses mainly due to additional hospitalisations and medical procedures, and the use of insulin and other medications, lead author Dr Heng Zhang, of [b]Fuwai Hospital[/b] in China, said. Dr Michael Jessen, from the [b]University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre[/b] said the study findings are significant and raise ‘the question of whether we as surgeons focus on the right factors in this often challenging group of patients.’
[link url=http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=178730]Full Medicinenet report[/link]
[link url=http://www.annalsthoracicsurgery.org/article/S0003-4975(14)00389-0/abstract]Annals of Thoracic Surgery abstract[/link]