Objectives: The goal of this research was to study the effect of planned angiography on late clinical outcome after percutaneous coronary intervention.
Background: It is still largely unknown whether planned follow-up angiography after coronary angioplasty influences late outcome.
Methods: Randomization assigned 527 patients to clinical follow-up alone and 531 to clinical and six-month angiographic follow-up. The effect of planned angiography on clinical outcome at one and three years after coronary angioplasty was studied.
Results: The two groups were well matched. At one year, more events occurred in the angiographic group than in the clinical group: 122 (23.2%) versus 88 (16.7%) (p = 0.01). While the incidence of death or myocardial infarction (MI) was similar at one year, the revascularization rate was higher in the angiographic group: 113 (21.3%) versus 67 (12.7%) (relative risk = 1.7, 95% confidence interval: 1.3 to 2.3, p = 0.0003). At three years, still more events had occurred in the angiographic group (146 [34.5%] vs. 114 [26.3%], p = 0.03). More reinterventions did not improve late survival. However, there was a nonsignificant reduction in MI (7 [1.3%] vs. 13 [2.5%], p = NS) and a significant improvement in functional class at the end of follow-up (freedom from angina 81% vs. 74%, p = 0.03). The effect of follow-up angiography on the reintervention rate was similar for stented and nonstented patients.
Conclusions: Planned follow-up angiography to evaluate the late results of coronary intervention led to a 1.7 times higher reintervention rate. This effect was similar for stented and nonstented patients. More reinterventions did not improve survival but tended to reduce the incidence of MI and led to a significantly better functional class at follow-up.