Depression, anxiety and negative affect symptoms in coronary artery bypass graft surgery patients

We read with interest the article by Murphy and colleagues [1] and the authors are to be commended for identifying several factors that place patients at risk of having only partially remitting cognitive–affective depressive symptoms after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABGS). The authors' unfortunate choice of terminology of minor and major depression is an inappropriate adaptation of psychiatric nomenclature reserved for use with structured psychiatric interview as performed by Strik et al. [2], who the authors cite. Given the descriptive labels remitted minor depression, partially remitted major depression, and worsening minor depression, one is lead to the conclusion that 100% of CABGS patients in Murphy et al.'s study had minor or major depression perioperatively, an alarmingly high prevalence if accurate. Perhaps the use of mild, moderate and severe depression or no depressive symptoms would be more appropriate.