OBJECTIVE To determine whether high-risk patients with three-vessel disease (TVD) with and without prior stroke preferentially benefit from three strategies percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and medical therapy (MT).
METHODS A total of 8943 patients with TVD were included in the study. Patients enrolled were stratified into two categories according to the presence or absence of prior stroke history. The primary endpoint was all-cause death. Secondary endpoints included stroke and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event (MACCE), a composite of death, myocardial infarction (MI), unplanned revascularization and stroke.
RESULTS Prior stroke was present in 888 patients (9.9%). These patients were older and had higher rates of comorbidities. During a median follow-up of 7.5 years, patients with prior stroke were strongly associated with increased risks of all-cause death, cardiac death, stroke and MACCE, even after adjusting for confounding variables and results been consistent across either treatment subgroup (PCI, CABG and MT) (all adjusted P < 0.01). Notably, there was a significant interaction between prior stroke history and treatment strategies. Revascularization strategy (PCI or CABG) was associated with a lower incidence of all-cause death and MACCE compared with MT alone, and favorable rates of MACCE, MI and unplanned revascularization in the CABG group compared with the PCI group, but with similar rate of all-cause death regardless of prior stroke history. The prevalence of stroke was significantly higher after CABG when compared with PCI or MT in no prior stroke patients hazard ratio (HR) = 1.429, 95% CI: 1.132–1.805 for CABG vs. MT; HR = 1.703, 95% CI: 1.371–2.116 for CABG vs. PCI.
CONCLUSIONS Patients with TVD and prior stroke have poor clinical outcomes. It is essential to balance benefit and risk when determining the optimal treatment strategy for TVD with and without prior stroke.
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