Trends in CABG, PCI Rates Suggest Many Are Not Treated Optimally

"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.