According to a new study reported in The New England Journal of Medicine, November 5 edition, the comparatively modern coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), which is performed on a beating heart sans a heart-lung apparatus, is only as effective as the conventional 'on-pump' bypass surgery.

The findings of the study, comparing the two heart surgery procedures, were based on the observation of 2,203 patients, at 18 US Veterans Administration hospitals, who underwent the two different types of bypass operations - while nearly 1,000 patients received the 'off-pump' beating heart surgery, the remaining patients received the 'on-pump' surgery, with their hearts stopped.

The researchers noted that both the surgical treatments for heart bypass had almost the same outcomes in terms of survival rates as well as medical complications within a month of the surgery.

Interestingly, however, the odds of the 'composite' outcomes within a year of the surgery largely favored the 'on-pump' procedure; with the 'off-pump' surgery not showing any notably better results in terms of neurological outcomes, like concentration and memory loss.

Though the beating-heart procedure is believed to have fewer post-surgical physical and cognitive complications, the researchers said: "Our trial did not show any overall advantage to the use of the off-pump as compared with the on-pump cardiac surgical approach for coronary bypass. Instead, there was a consistent trend toward better outcomes in patients undergoing conventional on-pump CABG technique."