How dangerous is heart bypass surgery under these circumstances?

a very very close friend of mine has juveniles diabetes and is anemic. just recently, she found out she also has congestive heart failure, and would need to have bypass surgery in a few years. however, because she is diabetic and anemic, doctors dont qualify her for bypass surgery.

i was wondering, just how dangerous is heart bypass surgery under those circumstances? what are the chances of death?

some other info - friend is female, 5'4-5'5, 110-115 pounds, and 16 years old.

I have seen DM patients have heart surgery then not heal. They lie in the hospital with open chest wounds for 3 weeks and eventually die from infections.
Because your friend is younger the risks are lower simply because her immune system might still be strong. But if she is not able to have the surgery according to doctors then she shouldn't risk it. It is a horrible way to die.

I am assuming your are not in the states? In the US doctors seem to love to do "anything they possibly can" damn the consequences or pain in a quest to heal children. Your friend is very fortunate to not be pushed into a painful dangerous surgery. So often children are put through horrible, painful treatments and the outcome is the same as it would have been without the treatment. It is the evil of the social service sector here. Sometimes nothing will help. And the kindest thing to do is to keep the patient pain-free rather than adding more anguish.

if the doctors dont qualify her for the surgery the risk may be really high.....she might also seek a second or third oppinion

That's awfully young to undergo heart bypass surgery! I'm sorry to hear that.
Heart bypass surgery is always a risk, usually more so in older patients. It's better that she undergoes it and lives, than takes the risk of getting worse and dying at a young age.
I wish you and your friend the best. Trust her doctor that he is making the best decision for her.

My dad had diabetes and in January went to have a triple bypass done.The surgeon found a calcified artery and had to close him up with only one artery being bypassed,he passed away in February (killed my heart).Anyhow,the surgeon told us had dad been younger,there would have been a much greater chance on his survival.What i'm saying is,since your friend is so young,she will have a greater risk of pulling through with no problems.

Well, at the institution I work at (major academic center), we do bypasses on patients with diabetes and anemia all the time. Many of these patients do well, although of course, some do badly. Like the above poster said, sometimes they linger in the ICU for weeks and die.

That being said, it's very hard to give up on a 16 year old. If she were 80, that would be completely different. Even though I sometimes feel that our surgeons are too aggressive, I wouldn't blame someone for giving it a shot.

Now, if she doesn't need a bypass now, she can be tuned up for surgery. She can be placed on blood stimulating meds such as Aranesp to chronically raise her levels, or she can get transfused right before surgery. If her diabetes is placed under better control, her risk of infection should be much lower. She's not obese-- definitely a good sign, and at her young age she should be well motivated to participate in the physical therapy needed to get her through. The degree of CHF complicates things too, although we've done surgery on patients with very very diseased hearts. It's more challenging, but it can be done.

This is obviously a very touchy issue, of course. And since I don't know your friend, I can't truly comment on how dangerous or risky her procedure would be. But, I would consider getting a second opinion at a big referral center (MGH, Duke, Columbia, Penn, Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic, Mayo, to name some options), and see what they think.