The early survival advantage in the intensive care unit suggests a window of critical opportunity for these patients. Under economic constraints and dearth of intensive care unit beds, increasing the turnover of patients in the intensive care unit, thus exposing more needy patients to the early benefit of treatment in the intensive care unit, may be advantageous.

Only a small proportion of eligible patients reach the intensive care unit, and early admission is imperative for their survival advantage. As intensive care unit benefit was most pronounced among those deteriorating on hospital wards, intensive care unit triage decisions should be targeted at maximizing intensive care unit benefit by early admitting patients deteriorating on hospital wards.

Total readmissions after CABG in Israel were difficult to predict, even with an extensive pre-discharge follow-up data. We propose that reasons for readmission vary from true emergencies to nonspecific causes, with the latter related to a lack of support services in the community. We suggest that cause-specific rehospitalizations could be a better outcome for evaluating quality of care.

No abstract

The study identifies patients who would most benefit from posthospitalization community support after bypass operations. Under circumstances of limited resources, these disadvantaged groups should be targeted as a priority. Encouraging participation in existing rehabilitation programs or introducing telephone hotlines could improve health-related quality of life after coronary bypass grafting without large investments.

No abstract

The risk of acquiring a new infection is greater in the ICU. However, risk of mortality among ICU patients was lower for the most serious infections and for those without any infection.

The role of perioperative factors in the excess mortality among women after coronary artery bypass grafting shifts the focus of attention from the selection of women for the operation to the in-hospital experience. Improving the outcome for women will entail efforts to prevent complications in the perioperative period.