Comparative effectiveness of multivessel coronary bypass surgery and multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention:

Mark A Hlatky1, Derek B Boothroyd, Laurence Baker

  • 1Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. hlatky@stanford.edu

Insights

Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery shows lower mortality than percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in older adults. Patient characteristics, like diabetes, significantly modify this survival benefit.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Medicine
  • Interventional Cardiology
  • Health Services Research

Background:

  • Randomized trials indicate patient characteristics influence mortality outcomes for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery versus percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
  • Understanding these modifications is crucial for optimizing treatment decisions in diverse patient populations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate how clinical characteristics modify the comparative effectiveness of CABG and PCI in a broad patient population.
  • To assess long-term mortality differences between CABG and PCI based on patient subgroups.

Main Methods:

  • Observational study utilizing propensity score matching and Cox proportional hazards models.
  • Analysis of Medicare beneficiaries aged 66 years or older from 1992 to 2008.
  • Comparison of multivessel CABG versus multivessel PCI, assessing all-cause mortality and survival differences over 5 years.

Main Results:

  • CABG was associated with significantly lower mortality than PCI (HR, 0.92; P < 0.001) in 105,156 matched patients.
  • The survival benefit of CABG was significantly greater for patients with diabetes, a history of tobacco use, heart failure, or peripheral arterial disease.
  • Patients with these comorbidities experienced larger predicted survival advantages with CABG compared to PCI.

Conclusions:

  • Multivessel CABG demonstrates lower long-term mortality than multivessel PCI in a real-world, community setting.
  • Patient characteristics, particularly diabetes, tobacco use, heart failure, and peripheral arterial disease, substantially modify the survival outcomes.
  • The observed survival improvements with CABG are concentrated in specific patient subgroups, highlighting the importance of personalized treatment selection.
Abstract