Thursday, August 14, 2008

Drugs, angioplasty give similar life quality: study

From Reuters:
Using drugs alone may take longer than angioplasty or stent surgery to help restore blood flow in patients with clogged arteries but in the long run patients do just about as well, researchers reported on Wednesday.

The surgery, known as PCI for percutaneous coronary intervention, may provide more short-term relief for some patients with severe or more frequent chest pain but the benefits tend to fade over the years, the international team of researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.

They assessed 2,287 volunteers in 50 U.S. and Canadian medical centers as part of a study called COURAGE, for Clinical Outcomes Utilizing Revascularization and Aggressive Drug Evaluation.

They reported last year that patients getting drugs alone for chest pain known as angina and for heart disease are no more likely to die or have a heart attack during the follow-up period of 30 to 84 months than people who also received PCI. ...more

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