Coronary Heart Surgery: A Rehabilitation Measure

On the occasion of the inauguration of the Department of Heart Surgery at the Rehabilitation Center in Bad Krozingen, we held under the aus pices of the European Society of Cardiology an International Symposium on March 17 to 18, 1978 with the . "Coronary Heart Surgery - a Rehabilitation Measure" This book contains the papers given at that time. The editors of this book, together with the other members of the sci entific committee - H. Denolin from Brussels, Ch. Hahn from Geneva, and F. Loogen from DUsseldorf - aimed at selecting controversial top ics as well as speakers representing different viewpoints. Thus avoid ing portrayal of an image of a world of coronary bypass surgery in which all problems have found a solution. In keeping with the topic of the meeting, special emphasis was drawn to the long-term functional results of aortocoronary bypass surgery; symptomatic imprQvement be ing, in most patients, significant enough and lasting for at least some years, thus allowing the patients to return to work. However, a combination of social, economic, and psychological factors may hamper optimal rehabilitation, as can be seen from some of the following papers. The incorporation of heart surgery into a rehabilitation center - being the motif of this symposium - may hopefully stimulate a global approach to cardiac rehabilitation which includes surgical, medical, psychological, vocational, and social rehabilitation mea sures. Bad Krozingen, January 1979 H. Roskamm M. Schmuziger Table of Contents 1.