Remove Coronary Blockages’ Surgery

Percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) are performed more than 1 million times a year. Surgeons use the procedure to open blocked arteries and improve blood flow to the heart. However, new research reveals the procedure is no more effective than non-surgical medical interventions at preventing the deaths of people with heart disease.

When a patient has a blocked heart artery, doctors can remove the blockage using a catheter snaked to the heart through an artery in the arm or leg. A small balloon is inflated at the tip of the catheter, clearing the blockage and allowing blood to flow freely. Often, surgeons leave behind a stent, a small mesh tube, which supports the blood vessel like a lattice. The stent is often loaded with medications designed to prevent the formation of new blockages.

Researchers from Buffalo General Hospital/Kaleida Heath in Buffalo, N.Y., compared patients who received PCI plus optimal medical therapy to patients who received optimal medical therapy alone. Optimal medical therapy usually includes intensive treatments with medications like aspirin, statins, blood thinners, ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers. Often, patients are guided through lifestyle changes, like quitting smoking and exercise programs.

After seven years, researchers report similar numbers of death, heart attack and stroke in both groups. The only benefit found in the PCI group was less angina, or chest pains.

Study authors conclude adding PCI to optimal medical therapy does not prevent further cardiovascular health problems.

Source : www.ivanhoe.com