Clinical outcome and quality of life after interventional treatment of left main disease with drug-eluting-stents in comparison to CABG in elderly and younger patients

Abstract

The aim of this study was to prospectively assess the clinical outcome and quality of life of elderly patients who underwent either coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stents (DES) for treatment of significant left main disease (LMD) compared to a younger patient population. Consecutive patients, admitted into our institution between 04/2004 and 12/2007 with LMD and a life expectancy of >1year were prospectively included and stratified in two groups (either CABG or left main stenting [LMS] with DES) based on the patients' age at inclusion (>or≤75years). Rates of death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and target lesion revascularization (TLR) were evaluated over a 12month follow-up. Six months after the initial procedure, additionally, quality of life was assessed using the SF-36 questionnaire. A total of 300 patients was included; 56 of the 95 PCI patients (59%) were ≤75years and 39 (44%) >75years, whereas 155 of 205 patients in the CABG group were ≤75years (76%), and 50 patients (24%) were >75years. Mean follow-up was 312±226days in the PCI and 377±286 in the CABG group. Rates of death and MI were not significantly different between the four groups at the end of follow-up. There was no difference in quality of life after 6months. In this prospective trial, PCI of LM with DES in elderly patients was feasible with a short- and intermediate term outcome comparable to CABG procedure and to a younger patient cohort.