Which Revascularization Strategy Is Best for Stable CAD?

Decisions about revascularization continue to challenge patients, especially those with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). Randomized trials of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) tend not to reflect real-world situations and provide only limited information about specific patient subgroups. A need exists for large, efficient studies in diverse populations that reflect current clinical practice.

With funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, researchers from the American College of Cardiology Foundation and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons combined data from their registries and linked the patient records with Medicare data to compare the outcomes of PCI and CABG in st…