Drug-Eluting Stents and the Use of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Among Patients With Class I Indications for Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery Undergoing Index Revascularization. Analysis From the NCDR (National Cardiovascular Data Registry)

Objectives: Our purpose was to evaluate percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) attempt rates in patients with class I indications for coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery after the introduction of drug-eluting stents (DES). Background: In patients with severe, multivessel coronary disease, CABG has historically been recommended over PCI. Practice guidelines for CABG were last updated before the emergence of data on DES efficacy. Methods: We analyzed 265,028 procedures from the NCDR (National Cardiovascular Data Registry) meeting American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association class I indications for surgical revascularization. Temporal trends in PCI attempt rates were analyzed during 3 consecutive time periods: pre-DES (before April 1, 2003), DES diffusion (April 1, 2003 to December 31, 2004), and DES (January 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006). Results: The attempted rate of PCI in patients with class I indications for CABG increased over the 3 time periods (pre-DES: 29.4%, DES diffusion: 33.4%, and DES era: 34.7%, p < 0.001). In a hierarchical multivariable logistic model adjusting for patient and PCI site characteristics, PCI attempts were more likely in the DES compared with pre-DES era (odds ratio: 1.44, 95% confidence interval: 1.40 to 1.48) and the DES diffusion era (odds ratio: 1.20, 95% confidence interval: 1.17 to 1.23). PCI attempt rates increased in all 3 time periods, although the average rate of increase during the DES era was 0.6% per quarter compared with 0.3% per quarter for both the DES diffusion and the pre-DES eras (p = 0.03). Conclusions: DES use in clinical practice was associated with a significant overall increase in PCI to treat patients with class I indications for CABG. Long-term follow-up of this cohort of patients is warranted.