Coronary angioplasty versus CABG: review of randomized trials

We carried out a review that included results of randomized trials that made a comparison between percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The 25 selected trials involved 12,305 patients, 11,103 of whom were from studies in patients with multi-vessel disease and 1,212 were from studies in patients with single lesion of the left anterior descending (LAD). In the studies of multi-vessel disease patients, the PCI showed a trend towards lower early mortality (1.2% versus 2%) and lower incidence of stroke: 0.7% versus 1.65%. There was no difference in the intermediate mortality (3.8% versus 3.8%). There was a trend towards the superiority of CABG in late mortality (10.5% versus 9.6%). The difference was exclusively due to "balloon era" studies, with a trend towards an inversion in the "stent era" (9.6% versus 9.9%). In studies of single lesion of LAD, there was no significant difference in any endpoint. The aggregation of results from nine studies that assessed late mortality in diabetic patients showed a difference in favor of surgery (21.3% versus 15.9%). Two studies that evaluated main coronary artery disease did not show a significant difference in mortality at one year (3.9% versus 4.7%). The incidence of repeat revascularization was consistently higher in PCI, despite the progressive improvement in results in the stent era.