Different Treatment Strategies for Patients with Multivessel Coronary Disease and High SYNTAX Score

We sought to evaluate the prognosis of different treatment strategies on patients with multivessel coronary disease and high SYNTAX score. 171 patients with multivessel coronary disease and SYNTAX score ε33, who underwent coronary angiography between July 2009 and July 2010 at our hospital were retrospectively selected and divided into incomplete and complete revascularization intervention groups (IR), a coronary artery bypass surgery group (CABG), a conservative drug therapy group according to treatment strategies chosen and agreed by the patients. These patients were followed up for 19.44 ± 5.73 months by telephone or outpatient service. We found the medical treatment group has a lower overall survival than the IR, CR group, and CABG group (P log-rank values are 0.03, 0.03, and 0.02, respectively). The medical treatment group also has a lower survival than the IR group, CR group, and CABG group in cerebral stroke and recurrent myocardial infarction (MI) (P log-rank values are 0.004, 0.03, and 0.001, respectively) and MACE events (P log-rank values are 0.003, 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively). The medical treatment group and IR group have lower survival in recurrent angina pectoris than the CR group and CABG group (P log-rank values are 0.02, 0.02 and 0.03, 0.008, respectively). There are no significant differences between the CR group and the CABG group in number of deaths, strokes and recurrent MIs, MACE events, angina pectoris (P log-rank values are 0.69, 0.53, and 0.86, respectively). The IR group shows a lower survival than the CR group and CABG group only in angina pectoris (P log-rank values are 0.03 and 0.008, respectively). For the patients with a high SYNTAX score, medical treatment is still inferior to revascularization therapy (interventional therapy or coronary artery bypass surgery). It appears that the CABG is not obviously superior to the coronary intervention therapy. Complete revascularization and coronary artery bypass grafting treatments simply have better survival in angina pectoris compared to the incomplete revascularization. Therefore, individual treatment strategies are recommended and more trials are required to study these effects.