Prevalence and Prognosis of Familial Hypercholesterolemia in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome in Mie Prefecture, Japan　- Report From Mie ACS Registry.

BACKGROUND: Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration and premature acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, hereditary diseases may have regional characteristics, and few data are available regarding the prevalence of FH throughout particular regions in Japan. This study investigated the prevalence and prognosis of FH in patients with ACS in Mie Prefecture, Japan.Methods and Results:This study investigated 738 ACS patients from the Mie ACS Registry in Mie Prefecture, and 706 (95.7%) with sufficient data to diagnose FH were enrolled for analysis. Eighteen patients (2.5%) were diagnosed with FH, which was similar to findings of another multidistrict registry conducted in Japan. Patients with FH were significantly younger and had a higher prevalence of premature onset of ACS than patients with non-FH (P<0.01). Incidence of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) was not statistically different between patients with FH and non-FH in this study population, even in the propensity score-matched analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Prevalence of FH in ACS patients from the Mie Prefecture was similar to that found in another Japanese multidistrict registry. Among ACS patients, short-term incidence of MACCE was not statistically different between patients with FH and non-FH in this study population.

One-year clinical outcomes of patients with versus without acute coronary syndrome with 3-month duration of dual antiplatelet therapy after everolimus-eluting stent implantation.

There has been no previous prospective study evaluating 3-month dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after cobalt-chromium everolimus-eluting stent (CoCr-EES) implantation in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The STOPDAPT trial is a prospective multi-center single-arm study evaluating 3-month DAPT duration in all-comer population after CoCr-EES implantation. Among 1525 study patients enrolled from 58 Japanese centers, the present study compared the 1-year clinical outcomes between ACS patients (N = 487) and stable coronary artery disease (CAD) patients (N = 1038). In the ACS group, 228 patients (47%) had unstable angina and 259 patients (53%) had myocardial infarction. The primary endpoint was a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, stroke, definite stent thrombosis (ST) and TIMI major/minor bleeding. Thienopyridine was discontinued within 4-month in 455 patients (94.0%) in the ACS group and 977 patients (94.3%) in the stable CAD group. Cumulative 1-year incidence of and the adjusted risk for the primary endpoint were not significantly different between the ACS and stable CAD groups (2.3% vs. 3.0%, P = 0.42, and HR 0.94, 95%CI 0.44-1.87, P = 0.87). In the 3-month landmark analysis, cumulative incidence of the primary endpoint was also not significantly different between the ACS and stable CAD groups (1.3% vs. 2.4%, P = 0.16). There was no definite/probable ST through 1-year in both groups. In the propensity matched analysis, the cumulative 1-year incidence of the primary endpoint were similar between the ACS and stable CAD groups (2.3% versus 2.1%, P = 0.82). In conclusion, stopping DAPT at 3 months after CoCr-EES implantation in patients with ACS including 47% of unstable angina was as safe as that in patients with stable CAD.

Clinical usefulness of instantaneous wave-free ratio for the evaluation of coronary artery lesion with prior myocardial infarction: A multi-center study.

BACKGROUND: Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is useful for assessing the functional significance of coronary artery stenosis, even in lesions with prior myocardial infarction (pMI). Instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) is a vasodilator-free alternative for the physiological assessment of coronary artery stenosis. In addition, iFR shows good diagnostic agreement with FFR and an iFR-guided revascularization strategy was non-inferior to an FFR-guided revascularization strategy. However, the clinical usefulness of iFR for the evaluation of a coronary artery lesions with pMI has not been evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 200 lesions from 200 patients (44 pMI territories lesions and 156 non-pMI coronary artery lesions) were analyzed retrospectively. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were defined as cardiovascular death, non-fatal MI, unstable angina pectoris, fatal arrhythmia and heart failure during 12 months follow-up after the physiological assessment of coronary artery stenosis. iFR was closely correlated with FFR in pMI and non-pMI lesions (r = 0.81 and 0.72; P < 0.001, respectively). In pMI lesions, an iFR cut-off of 0.89 was optimal against a clinical FFR cut-off of 0.80 according to receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis, whereas in non-pMI lesions, the iFR cut-off value was 0.92 without statistical significance. In addition, the event rate of MACE was similar between pMI and non-pMI patients during follow-up even in the presence or absence of an PCI procedure. CONCLUSIONS: iFR may be a useful alternative method compared with FFR for clinical decision-making even in pMI patients.

Prognostic impact of unrecognized myocardial scar in the non-culprit territories by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Aims: Unrecognized myocardial scar by late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is strongly associated with cardiac event in patients with stable coronary artery disease. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic impact of unrecognized non-infarct-related LGE (non-IR-LGE) in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Methods and results: We studied 269 patients with a first clinical episode of AMI underwent cardiac MRI within 6 weeks after onset (209 men; age, 66 ± 12 years). LGE, cine MRI and T2-weighted imaging were obtained to evaluate the presence and extent of LGE and to evaluate cardiac function. Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were defined as cardiovascular death, non-fatal AMI, unstable angina requiring revascularization, fatal arrhythmia, and heart failure. Unrecognized non-IR LGE was observed in 13.0% of patients. During follow-up periods (median, 22 months; range, 3-95 months), 8.9% of patients experienced MACE in this study. In addition, 22.9% of patients with unrecognized non-IR LGE and 6.8% of patients without unrecognized non-IR-LGE experienced MACE (P < 0.01). The presence of unrecognized non-IR LGE predicted MACE with a hazard ratio of 3.45 (95% confidential interval, 1.03-11.47; P < 0.01). In addition, unrecognized non-IR LGE was the strongest independent predictors of MACE with a hazard ratio of 3.30 by the Cox proportional hazards model (P < 0.01). In contrast, angiography-proven multi-vessel disease and transmural extent of infarct-related LGE were not independently associated with MACE. Conclusion: Among patients with a first clinical episode of AMI, unrecognized non-IR myocardial scar provides incremental prognostic value for predicting MACE beyond that of common clinical, angiographic and functional variables.

One-year outcome of a prospective trial stopping dual antiplatelet therapy at 3 months after everolimus-eluting cobalt-chromium stent implantation: ShortT and OPtimal duration of Dual AntiPlatelet Therapy after everolimus-eluting cobalt-chromium stent (STOPDAPT) trial.

There has been no previous prospective study evaluating dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) duration shorter than 6 months after cobalt-chromium everolimus-eluting stent (CoCr-EES) implantation. STOPDAPT trial is a prospective multi-center single-arm study evaluating 3-month DAPT duration after CoCr-EES implantation. The primary endpoint was a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, definite stent thrombosis (ST) and TIMI major/minor bleeding at 1 year. Between September 2012 and October 2013, a total of 1525 patients were enrolled from 58 Japanese centers, with complete 1-year follow-up in 1519 patients (99.6 %). Thienopyridine was discontinued within 4 months in 1444 patients (94.7 %). The event rates beyond 3 months were very low (cardiovascular death: 0.5 %, MI: 0.1 %, ST: 0 %, stroke: 0.7 %, and TIMI major/minor bleeding: 0.8 %). Cumulative 1-year incidence of the primary endpoint was 2.8 % [upper 97.5 % confidence interval (CI) 3.6 %], which was lower than the pre-defined performance goal of 6.6 % (P < 0.0001). Using the CoCr-EES group in the RESET trial as a historical comparison group, where nearly 90 % of patients had continued DAPT at 1 year, cumulative incidence of the primary endpoint tended to be lower in the STOPDAPT than in the RESET (2.8 versus 4.0 %, P = 0.06) and adjusted hazard ratio was 0.64 (95 % CI 0.42-0.95, P = 0.03). The cumulative incidence of definite/probable ST was lower in the STOPDAPT than in the RESET [0 patient (0 %) versus 5 patients (0.3 %), P = 0.03]. In conclusion, stopping DAPT at 3 months in selected patients after CoCr-EES implantation was at least as safe as the prolonged DAPT regimen adopted in the historical control group.

Acute Pulmonary Thromboembolism and Deep Vein Thrombosis during the Medical Treatment of Acute Aortic Dissection was Successfully Treated by the Combination of Inferior Vena Cava Filter Installation and Anti-Coagulant Therapy: A Case Report.

A 71-year-old woman was admitted with Stanford type A acute aortic dissection (AAD). Computed tomography (CT) revealed thrombosis of the false lumen, and we planned to treat medically. She developed transient pleural effusion and hypoxemia, which persisted despite her pleural effusion disappeared. We performed CT and found a large thrombus in the pulmonary artery and femoral vein. We administered low dose- unfractionated heparin and installed a retrievable inferior vena cava filter, which caused the thrombus in the pulmonary artery to disappeared without exacerbating AAD. Our strategy seems to be suitable for acute pulmonary thromboembolism that occurs during the treatment of AAD.

Relation of contrast-induced nephropathy to long-term mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention.

There is little information on the effect of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) on long-term mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with or without chronic kidney disease (CKD). Of 4,371 patients who had paired serum creatinine (SCr) measurements before and after percutaneous coronary intervention and were discharged alive in the Coronary REvascularization Demonstrating Outcome Study in Kyoto registry, the incidence of CIN (an increase in SCr of ≥0.5 mg/dl from the baseline) was 5% in our study cohort. The rate of CIN in patients with CKD was 11%, although it was 2% without CKD (p <0.0001). During a median follow-up of 42.3 months after discharge, 374 patients (8.6%) died. After adjustment for prespecified confounders, CIN was significantly correlated with long-term mortality in the entire cohort (hazard ratio [HR] 2.26, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.62 to 2.29, p <0.0001) and in patients with CKD (HR 2.62, 95% CI 1.91 to 3.57, p <0.0001) but not in patients without CKD (HR 1.23, 95% CI 0.47 to 2.62, p = 0.6). Sensitivity analyses confirmed these results using the criteria defined as elevations of the SCr by ≥25% and 0.3 mg/dl from the baseline, respectively. In conclusion, CIN was significantly correlated with long-term mortality in patients with CKD but not in those without CKD.

Relationship between CYP2C19 loss-of-function polymorphism and platelet reactivities with clopidogrel treatment in Japanese patients undergoing coronary stent implantation.

BACKGROUND: CYP2C19 loss-of-function genotype (*2 and/or *3 alleles) is related to low responsiveness to clopidogrel, which is a risk factor for ischemic cardiac events. The contribution of these genotypes to platelet reactivity in Japanese patients in a steady state receiving dual antiplatelet therapy after coronary stenting was evaluated. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 155 Japanese patients were classified according to their CYP2C19 loss-of-function genotype. Platelet reactivity was assayed by plasma levels of soluble P-selectin and platelet-derived microparticles, light transmittance aggregometry induced by ADP (ADP-LTA), shear stress-induced platelet aggregometry, vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein phosphorylation (VASP) index and the VerifyNow-P2Y12 assay. Linear and logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between CYP2C19 loss-of-function genotype and high on-treatment platelet reactivity. In total, 62 patients (40.0%) were extensive metabolizers (EMs), 70 (45.2%) were intermediate metabolizers (IMs) and 23 (14.8%) were poor metabolizers (PMs). ADP-specific assays (ADP-LTA, the VASP index and VerifyNow-P2Y12) differed according to CYP2C19 genotype, with a significant gene-dose effect (PMs>IMs>EMs). CYP2C19 loss-of-function carrier status was associated with more frequent high platelet reactivity. CYP2C19 loss-of-function genotype alone could explain 12.2%, 14.3%, and 14.7% of the variability in the ADP-LTA, VASP and VerifyNow-P2Y12 assays, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: CYP2C19 loss-of-function genotype is associated with more frequent high platelet reactivity, as assessed by ADP-specific platelet function tests, in Japanese patients.

Improving drug adherence using fixed combinations caused beneficial treatment outcomes and decreased health-care costs in patients with hypertension.

We enrolled 196 patients with hypertension who were already being treated with free-drug combinations of angiotensin-II receptor blocker (ARB) and amlodipine. The free-drug combinations of ARB and amlodipine were replaced with the same dose of the fixed-dose combinations. The average home blood pressure (BP) in all patients receiving fixed-dose combinations was significantly lower than those receiving free-drug combinations (131 ± 10/75 ± 8 vs. 136 ± 11/77 ± 9 mm Hg, P < .01) accompanied with increasing drug adherence. After lowering BP by fixed-dose combinations, the costs for medications decreased by 31% over the 3 months.

Short-term effects of low-dose tolvaptan on hemodynamic parameters in patients with chronic heart failure.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the short-term effects of low-dose tolvaptan treatment on hemodynamic parameters in patients with chronic heart failure (HF). METHODS: We studied 22 patients (69 ± 10 years) with chronic HF and excess fluid retention despite receiving appropriate medical therapy, including loop and/or thiazide diuretics. The therapeutic effects of low-dose (7.5mg) once-daily tolvaptan on hemodynamics associated with changes in fluid balance and neurohumoral activations were investigated after a seven day treatment period. RESULTS: After the treatment period, body weight decreased (-2.7 ± 2.3 kg) associated with increases in daily urine output. Whereas plasma arginine-vasopressin levels, serum aldosterone concentration, and plasma renin activity mildly increased, plasma levels of B-type natriuretic peptide and atrial natriuretic peptide significantly decreased after tolvaptan treatment. Serum electrolytes were not adversely affected by tolvaptan treatment. Although cardiac index and systemic vascular resistance index remained unchanged, mean pulmonary artery wedge pressure (22 ± 7 mmHg vs. 17 ± 7 mmHg, p<0.05), mean right atrial pressure (12 ± 5 mmHg vs. 9 ± 5 mmHg, p<0.05), mean pulmonary artery pressure (32 ± 9 mmHg vs. 25 ± 7 mmHg, p<0.05), and pulmonary vascular resistance index (332 ± 207 dynes/cm(-5)/m(2) vs. 245 ± 110 dynes/cm(-5)/m(2), p<0.05) significantly decreased after tolvaptan treatment. The extent of the reduction in pulmonary vascular resistance index after tolvaptan treatment strongly correlated with baseline values. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term treatment with low-dose tolvaptan improved hemodynamic parameters and correlated with significant fluid removal in patients with chronic HF.

Effect of baseline glycemic level on long-term cardiovascular outcomes after coronary revascularization therapy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with hypoglycemic agents.

The present study evaluated the association between preoperative hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) treated with hypoglycemic agents and undergoing coronary revascularization. We conducted a multicenter registry of Japanese patients undergoing first elective coronary revascularization. The present study included 3,571 patients whose HbA1c value at the index hospitalization was available. Of the 3,571 patients, 2,067 did not have DM and 1,504 had type 2 DM. Of the patients with type 2 DM, 202 had a HbA1c level of <6% (very low HbA1c group [VLG]), 426 had a HbA1c level of > or =6% but <7% (low HbA1c group), 405 had a HbA1c level of '7% but <8% (intermediate HbA1c group), and 471 had a HbA1c level of > or =8% (high HbA1c group). The patients with type 2 DM treated with diet only were not included in the present study. The VLG had the lowest rate of freedom from major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), a composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stroke. On multivariate analyses, the low HbA1c group had the lowest hazard ratio for MACE relative to those without DM (hazard ratio 1.13, 95% confidence interval 0.80 to 1.55). The VLG, intermediate HbA1c group, and high HbA1c group were significantly associated with an increased risk of MACE. On multivariate analyses of patients with DM using the low HbA1c group as a reference, a high HbA1c group level was significantly associated with an increased risk of MACE. The VLG and intermediate HbA1c group tended to be associated with an increased risk of MACE (VLG, hazard ratio 1.54, 95% confidence interval 0.98 to 2.40; intermediate HbA1c group, hazard ratio 1.44, 95% confidence interval 0.98 to 2.13). In conclusion, patients with type 2 DM treated with hypoglycemic agents and undergoing first elective coronary revascularization had significantly worse cardiovascular outcomes than patients without DM, except for patients with DM and a HbA1c of 6% to 7%. In the patients with DM, those with a HbA1c of 6% to 7% tended to have the lowest risk of MACE.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease--an independent risk factor for long-term cardiac and cardiovascular mortality in patients with ischemic heart disease.

BACKGROUND: Limited data are available on long-term mortality and morbidity of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and ischemic heart disease. We examined how COPD affects long-term mortality and morbidity after undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). METHODS: We analyzed 9877 consecutive patients who underwent their first elective PCI (n=6878) and CABG (n=2999) in 2000-2002 at 30 institutions listed in the CREDO-Kyoto registry. RESULTS: COPD was diagnosed in 240 patients (2.4%). In-hospital mortality (1.3% vs. 1.2%, p=0.972) did not differ between patients with and without COPD. During long-term follow-up (42. 8 month s), 906 patients (9.4%) died, 517 (5.3%) of whom died of cardiovascular death and 376 (3.9%), of cardiac death. At 3 years, the unadjusted survival rate and the rates of freedom from cardiovascular death and cardiac death were 92.1%, 95.3%, and 96.5% in the total population and 82.8%, 91.7%, and 92.1% in patients with COPD respectively. Log-rank test indicated that COPD was associated with higher incidence of all-cause mortality (p<0.0001), cardiovascular death (p=0.0002), and cardiac death (p<0.0001). Multivariate analyses indicated that COPD was an independent predictor of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio 1.36, p=0.0003), cardiovascular death (hazard ratio 1.28, p=0.0407), and cardiac death (hazard ratio 1.48, p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: COPD is an independent risk factor for long-term cardiac and cardiovascular mortality in patients with ischemic heart disease.

In vivo myocardial distribution of multipotent progenitor cells following intracoronary delivery in a swine model of myocardial infarction.

AIMS: There are few data comparing the fate of multipotent progenitor cells (MPCs) used in cardiac cell therapy after myocardial infarction (MI). To document in vivo distribution of MPCs delivered by intracoronary (IC) injection. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using an anterior MI swine model, near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence was used for in vivo tracking of labelled MPCs [mesenchymal stromal (MSCs), bone marrow mononuclear (BMMNCs), and peripheral blood mononuclear (PBMNCs)] cells early after IC injection. Signal intensity ratios (SIRs) of injected over non-injected (reference) zones were used to report NIR fluorescence emission. Following IC injection, significant differences in mean SIR were documented when MSCs were compared with BMMNCs [1.28 +/- 0.10 vs. 0.77 +/- 0.11, P < 0.001; 95% CI (0.219, 0.805), respectively] or PBMNCs [1.28 +/- 0.10 vs. 0.80 +/- 0.14, P = 0.005; 95% CI (0.148, 0.813), respectively]. Differences were maintained during the 60 min tracking period, with only the MSC-injected groups continuously emitting NIR fluorescence (SIR>1). This is correlated with greater cell retention for MSCs relative to mononuclear cells. However, there was evidence of MSC-related vessel plugging in some swine. CONCLUSION: Our in vivo NIR fluorescence findings suggest that MPC distribution and retention immediately after intracoronary delivery vary depending on cell population and could potentially impact the clinical efficacy of cardiac cell therapy.

Impact of CYP2C19 polymorphisms on the antiplatelet effect of clopidogrel in an actual clinical setting in Japan.

BACKGROUND: The P2Y(12) adenosine diphosphate (ADP) receptor blocker, clopidogrel, an essential drug for the prevention of stent thrombosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), is a prodrug that requires CYP2C19- and CYP3A4-mediating activation. CYP2C19*2 and *3 polymorphisms are known to lack enzymatic activity. CYP2C19 polymorphisms have been reported to exhibit weaker antiplatelet response to clopidogrel in healthy subjects. The effect of polymorphisms of CYP2C19, CYP3A4 and P2Y(12) on the antiplatelet effect of clopidogrel in clinical patients was examined in the present study. METHODS AND RESULTS: Single nucleotide polymorphisms of CYP2C19*2, *3, CYP3A4 (IVS10 +12G>A) and P2Y(12) (T744C) were determined in 25 PCI-scheduled patients who had been systematically analyzed for the antiplatelet effect of clopidogrel in a previous study. On the basis of CYP2C19 genotype, 11 patients (44%) were classified as extensive metabolizers (EMs), 8 (32%) as intermediate metabolizers (IMs) and 6 (24%) as poor metabolizers (PMs). The rates of inhibition of 5 micromol/L ADP-induced platelet aggregation by clopidogrel intake at 48 h were 31.6 +/-14.3% in EMs, 18.4 +/-10.0% in IMs (P=0.04 vs EMs) and 16.0 +/-13.0% in PMs (P=0.02 vs EMs). CONCLUSIONS: CYP2C19 polymorphisms are frequent in Japanese, and the antiplatelet effect of clopidogrel is strongly affected by them in the real-world clinical setting.

Coronary risk factor profile and prognostic factors for young Japanese patients undergoing coronary revascularization.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) is increasing in young adults. Risk factor profiling will help to prevent heart attacks in young patients. This study aimed to analyze the risk factor profile and predictors of major cardiovascular events (MACE) in young CAD patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: From the Coronary REvascularization Demonstrating Outcome study in the Kyoto (CREDO-Kyoto) registry of Japanese patients undergoing their first coronary revascularization, 6,320 patients with complete data for all variables for statistical analyses were divided into younger (< or =55 years; n=898; 14.3%) and older (>55 years; n=5,422; 85.7%) patients. The risk factors that were more prevalent in the younger patients than in the older patients included: male sex, body mass index of >25 kg/m(2), current smoker, family history of CAD, dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome-like risk factor accumulation. Multivariate analyses revealed that chronic kidney disease (CKD) was the only significant predictor of MACE, the composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction and cerebrovascular accident, in the younger patients. Importance of CKD as a prognostic factor was consistently shown by a multivariate analysis in the older patients. CONCLUSIONS: Accumulation of multiple risk factors is prevalent and CKD is associated with MACE in young Japanese CAD patients.

Clopidogrel resistance in Japanese patients scheduled for percutaneous coronary intervention.

BACKGROUND: Dual antiplatelet therapy with acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and a P2Y(12) ADP-receptor blocker is standard for prevention of coronary stent thrombosis. Clopidogrel, a 2(nd)-generation P2Y(12) blocker, has recently become available in Japan and this study aimed to evaluate its antiplatelet effects in Japanese patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty Japanese patients scheduled for elective coronary stent implantation were enrolled. Under low-dose ASA therapy, 300 mg clopidogrel was loaded on the 1(st) day and a daily 75-mg dose was administered on the following days. Assessed by optical aggregometer, rapid inhibition occurred at 4 h, when the inhibition of platelet aggregation rate (IPA) was 16.4+/-12.8% using 5 mumol/L ADP as the stimulus. The antiplatelet efficacy of clopidogrel was reasonably constant in each patient throughout the study period, although there was a broad inter-individual variation. At 48 h after clopidogrel loading, the ratios of responders (IPA > or =30%), hypo-responders (10%< or =IPA<30%), and non-responders (IPA <10%) were 36%, 50%, and 14%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The antiplatelet effectiveness of clopidogrel appeared individual-specific with wide inter-individual variation. The rate of clopidogrel non-responders was 14% among the examined Japanese patients.

Long-term outcomes of coronary-artery bypass graft surgery versus percutaneous coronary intervention for multivessel coronary artery disease in the bare-metal stent era.

BACKGROUND: Observational registries comparing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have reported long-term survival results that are discordant with those of randomized trials. METHODS AND RESULTS: We conducted a multicenter study in Japan enrolling consecutive patients undergoing first CABG or PCI between January 2000 and December 2002. Among 9877 patients enrolled, 5420 (PCI: 3712, CABG: 1708) had multivessel disease without left main involvement. Because age is an important determinant when choosing revascularization strategies, survival analysis was stratified by either age >/=75 or <75 years. Analyses were also performed in other relevant subgroups. Median follow-up interval was 1284 days with 95% follow-up rate at 2 years. At 3 years, unadjusted survival rates were 91.7% and 89.6% in the CABG and PCI groups, respectively (log rank P=0.26). After adjustment for baseline characteristics, survival outcome tended to be better after CABG (hazard ratio for death after PCI versus CABG [HR], 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.23 [0.99-1.53], P=0.06). Adjusted survival outcomes also tended to be better for CABG among elderly patients (HR [95%CI]: 1.37 [0.98-1.92] P=0.07), but not among nonelderly patients (HR [95% CI]: 1.09 [0.82-1.46], P=0.55). Unadjusted and adjusted survival outcome for CABG and PCI were not significantly different in any subgroups when elderly patients were excluded from analysis. CONCLUSIONS: In the CREDO-Kyoto registry, survival outcomes among patients <75 years of age were similar after PCI and CABG, a result that is consistent with those of randomized trials.