PCI Safe at Centers With or Without On-Site CABG

A new meta-analysis suggests that on-site backup surgical capability is not necessary for either primary or elective PCI.

In recent decades, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has outperformed thrombolysis for primary treatment of myocardial infarction (MI), and coronary stenting during PCI has dramatically reduced the rate of periprocedural MI and the resultant need for emergency coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Consequently, many hospitals without on-site CABG capability have set up PCI facilities. Yet the most recent American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines remain quite cautious in their recommendations about PCI at centers without on-site CABG.

To compare rates of in-hospital mortality and emergency CABG during PCI at centers with on-site surgery and at those without on-site surgery, investigators conducted a meta-an…

Reviewing Author

Beat J. Meyer, MD

Disclosures

Leadership positions in professional societiesBern Heart Foundation (President); International Academy of Medicine, Bern, Switzerland (Director)

Beat J. Meyer, MD

Disclosures

Leadership positions in professional societiesBern Heart Foundation (President); International Academy of Medicine, Bern, Switzerland (Director)