Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Stable Patients with Occluded Arteries: What’s the Value?

New findings from the OAT study suggest that the benefits are not worth the costs.

In the NIH-sponsored Occluded Artery Trial (OAT), investigators compared medical therapy with percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with occluded infarct–related coronary arteries 3 to 28 days after MI. The rate of combined death, reinfarction, and severe heart failure was similar in the two groups (JW Cardiol Nov 14 2006), but angina (a secondary outcome) occurred less frequently in the PCI group during the first follow-up year. We now have results of an economic and quality-of-life (QOL) substudy of 951 OAT participants enrolled through 2004 in the U.S. and other selected countries.

Duke Activity Status Index scores were significantly lower (indicating worse function) in the medical-therapy group than in the PCI group at 4 months,…

Reviewing Author

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardUnited Healthcare; Element Science; Eyedentifeye, F-Prime

EquityHugo Health; Refactor Health; Element Science

Grant/Research SupportPfizer; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Janssen Research and Development, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Engineering; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; National Cancer Institute; American Heart Association

Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardUnited Healthcare; Element Science; Eyedentifeye, F-Prime

EquityHugo Health; Refactor Health; Element Science