A new study, sponsored by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Cordis Corp. suggests that stents and bypass surgery may be equally effective in treating left main coronary artery disease.
Korean researchers at the Asan Medical Center in Seoul compared Cypher sirolimus-eluting stents made by Cordis with traditional bypass surgery in 600 patients suffering from left main coronary artery disease. The Precombat trial was funded by Cordis, the Cardiovascular Research Foundation of Seoul and a grant from the Korean Ministry of Health.
The study found that the two treatments were equally effective in terms of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events. The instance of death, myocardial infarction or stroke at both one year and two-year outcomes were also quite similar.
The data showed that the two treatments met the “statistical criteria for noninferiority” of (p=0.01) one year following procedure. After two years, researchers said adverse events occurred in 12.2 percent among PCI cases, versus 8.1 percent for surgical patients.
Death, myocardial infarction, or stroke occurred in 3.3 percent of stent recipients, versus 4 percent for surgery after one year. Researchers said they were surprised that the adverse events rate was lower than 13 percent.
The data, published in the New England Journal of Medicine April 4, was presented at the American College of Cardiology’s annual conference in New Orleans.
