Omnia munda mundis (‘to the pure, all things are pure’)

We are grateful for the opportunity to reply and comment on the Taggart et al. [1] and Freemantle et al. [2] pieces. We believe that a detailed description of the background and context is necessary for better understanding by the readers. Our individual patient meta-analysis of the relationship between different coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) conduits and outcomes published in the European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EJCTS) [3] is based on a pooled dataset of individual patient data from 4 contemporary CABG trials that was initially established by all key investigators of each study, as well as CABG experts and statistical and methodological editors of major cardiac surgery journals, to evaluate sex differences in outcomes after CABG surgery [4]. Cornell Medicine in New York was established as the analytic unit based on the previous successful experiences with CABG individual patient data meta-analyses. The planned work on sex differences in CABG outcomes was successfully completed and published in the European Heart Journal [5].