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Smoking remains a prevalent global issue that cuts across different socio-economic strata and regions. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are globally 1.3 billion tobacco users, 80% of whom reside in low- and middle-income countries. Data from Eurostat reveals that 19.7% of the European Union population smokes daily, with rates between 15% and 20% in nearly two-thirds of countries.

Smoking is a well-known cause of serious health problems, including a risk of coronary artery disease and stroke that is up to four times higher, both of which are leading causes of death in Europe [1]. For patients undergoing cardiac surgery, the complications related to smoking are markedly increased, including pulmonary issues and impaired wound healing [2, 3]. Despite this, there is a lack of awareness about the magnitude of these problems and a deficiency in effective intervention strategies.

Data on the number of patients who smoke and undergo coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and other cardiac surgeries are limited. However, landmark coronary trials such as SYNTAX, EXCEL and FAME 3 have shown that the number of smokers among CABG patients has remained stable over the 15 years of patients’ enrollment period [4–6]. These studies reveal a consistent proportion of current smokers, defined as those smoking within 1 month of the index surgery, and past smokers, defined as those who stopped smoking more than 1 month before CABG, accounting for nearly 20% and 40% of the patients, respectively, in all 3 studies. This stability suggests a significant lack of response to the well-documented short-term harms of smoking, indicating that awareness and intervention strategies need urgent improvement.

Topic:
Subject
Coronary Disease (Acquired Cardiac) Clinical Epidemiology
Issue Section:
MYOCARDIAL REVASCULARIZATION
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