Angioplasty Versus Bypass Surgery for Coronary Artery Disease

Andrew D. Michaels, MD; Kanu Chatterjee, MB, FRCP

From the Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco.

Correspondence to: Kanu Chatterjee, MB, FRCP, Professor of Medicine, Lucie Stern Professor of Cardiology, Chatterjee Center for Cardiac Research, University of California, San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Ave, San Francisco, CA 94143. E-mail

What Is Coronary Artery Disease?

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a disease caused by "hardening" (termed atherosclerosis) of the coronary arteries on the surface of the heart CAD is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States.