EDITORIALS Evaluation of Coronary Artery Surgery-One Step Forward CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE afflicts 5 % of the adults

ages 18 and 79 definitely have coronary artery disease and another 2.4 million are suspected of having the disease. There are in excess of 1 million myocardial infarctions per year in our country, a mortality rate approaching 40%. The development of aortocoronary venous bypass grafting has provided the potential for immediate re-vascularization of ischemic myocardium. With such statistics and a technically feasible surgical procedure, it is no wonder that the performance of direct surgical procedures on the coronary vessels has reached al-most "epidemic " proportions; it is estimated that more than 20 000 such operations were done in the United States during the past year. The October 1972 issue of Circulation contains