Coronary revascularization in ischemic heart disease: lessons from observational studies and randomized clinical trials

This thesis presents an overview of clinical trials and observational studies on coronary revascularization and evaluates the results obtained with revascularization in different subsets of patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The lessons learned from these studies are presented in three parts. Part 1: Clinical trials and observational studies on coronary revascularization. Part 2: Predictors of adverse angiographic and clinical outcome. Part 3: Special subgroups on coronary revascularizatio

Characteristics, treatment and outcome of patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes and multivessel coronary artery disease: observations from PURSUIT (Platelet Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa in unstable angina: receptor suppression using integreling therapy)

BACKGROUND: The 6-month clinical outcome of patients with multivessel disease enrolled in PURSUIT (Platelet Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa in Unstable Angina: Receptor Suppression Using Integrilin Therapy) is described. Patients with complete angiography data were included; multivessel disease was stratified according to the treatment strategy applied early during hospitalization, i.e. medical treatment, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (balloon), PCI (stent), or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). METHODS: Patients were divided into three groups according to the treatment strategy applied during the first 30 days of enrolment. Patients who did not undergo a percutaneous or surgical coronary intervention were classified as medically treated. Patients who underwent a PCI (prior to a possible CABG) were separated from those who underwent a CABG (prior to a possible PCI). The PCI group was further subdivided: patients receiving >/=1 coronary stents were separated from those in whom no stents were used. RESULTS: The mortality rate at 30 days was 6.7, 3.9, 2.4 and 4.8% for the medical treatment, PCI (balloon), PCI (stent) and CABG groups, respectively (p value = 0.002). Differences as observed at 30 days were still present at 6-month follow-up with 11.1, 5.8, 5.5 and 6.5% mortality event rates for the aforementioned groups (p value = 0.002). The 30-day myocardial infarction (MI) rate according to the opinion of the Clinical Events Committee was lower among medically than non-medically treated patients, with the highest event rate observed in the CABG group (27.7%). Approximately half of the MIs in the PCI and CABG subgroups occurred within 48 h after the procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The observed differences in clinical outcomes are explained by an imbalance in baseline characteristics and comorbid conditions between the analyzed groups of patients