Heart Health

Why choose bypass surgery over stents?

Ask the doctor

By , Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Illustration of a heart with lines pointing to the right anterior artery, the left circumflex artery, and the left anterior descending artery. Q. I take medications to treat my high blood pressure and high cholesterol, but I still feel chest pain whenever I walk uphill. A cardiac catheterization showed serious narrowing in all three of my main heart arteries. Should I receive stents, or would it be better to have bypass surgery?

A. Chest discomfort that occurs with exercise, known as stable angina, is quite common — about half a million cases are diagnosed in this country each year. As the testing you've had confirms, the pain you feel during exertion stems from the narrowing of your coronary arteries. The resulting reduced blood flow, which decreases the supply of oxygen to your heart muscle, leads to the discomfort.

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About the Author

photo of Christopher P. Cannon, MD

Christopher P. Cannon, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing

Dr. Christopher P. Cannon is editor in chief of the Harvard Heart Letter. He is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and senior physician in the Preventive Cardiology section of the Cardiovascular Division at … See Full Bio
View all posts by Christopher P. Cannon, MD

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