Risk of MI, stroke, mortality in gastric bypass patients

Editor's Note

In this study, Swedish researchers, find that gastric bypass was associated with a decreased risk of myocardial infarction (MI), but not ischemic stroke within 10 years of surgery, and it reduced mortality during the first 3 years after surgery but not thereafter.

Study participants were divided into obese patients who had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (28,204) within 2 years of obesity diagnosis and nonoperated obese patients (40,827). These were matched for age, sex, and region with two nonobese population controls.

Compared with nonoperated obese patients, gastric bypass patients had a reduced risk of MI, similar risk of ischemic stroke, and decreased risks of cardiovascular-related and all-cause mortality within the first 3 years of follow-up, but not later.

Compared with nonobese controls, gastric bypass patients had excess risks of ischemic stroke, cardiovascular-related mortality, and all-cause mortality, but not of MI.

Additional studies with long-term follow-up are needed to identify subgroups that obtain the greatest benefits from gastric bypass and which patients might fare better with medical and behavioral treatments, the researchers say.