Trends in CABG, PCI Rates Suggest Many Are Not Treated Optimally
Major Finding: The rate of CABG surgeries declined by approximately one-third and that of PCI procedures fell by 4% between 2001 and 2008, while the number of hospitals providing CABG increased by 12% and the number providing PCI rose by 26% during the same period.
Data Source: A nationwide serial cross-sectional study of time trends in coronary revascularization procedures.
Disclosures: This study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; and the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
FROM JAMA
"An important implication of this volatility is that thousands of patients may have received drug-eluting stents during the peak years who would have received bare-metal stents [in later years]. Whether these patients were appropriately treated ... during these years of ‘high enthusiasm’ for drug-eluting stents is uncertain," the investigators noted.
This study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; and the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
