Comparison of survival in cardiac surgery at a Veterans Administration hospital and its affiliated university hospital

Survival data were reviewed for 3330 open cardiac procedures from 1975 through 1984 at the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, Wis, and the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics, Madison. Respective operative survivals were 98.6% and 98.7% for myocardial revascularizations with vein graft or internal mammary artery (CABG), 96.2% and 96.8% for CABG reoperation, 97.8% and 95.9% for aortic valve replacement, 96.3% and 90.3% for aortic valve replacement plus CABG, 100.0% and 94.9% for mitral valve replacement, and 100.0% and 82.9% for mitral valve replacement plus CABG. There were no significant differences in six-year survival curves between hospitals despite threefold differences in average annual caseload (88 vs 294). This suggest that residency-directed cardiac surgery programs can function equally as well at a Veterans Administration hospital as at an affiliated university hospital.