"EXCEL at Five Years: PCI, CABG 'Relatively Comparable' for Left Main Coronary Disease" - Steve Stiles
Five-year outcomes from a major randomized trial provide at least a partial answer to whether coronary stenting for left main disease may be better than coronary artery bypass grafting, or vice versa, for preventing serious clinical outcomes over the long haul. "Early on there was a clear benefit for PCI, with fewer periprocedural events, mostly due to fewer large MIs and somewhat less strokes," said Gregg Stone, MD, senior faculty of medicine, cardiology, and population health science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He added, “The early benefits of PCI of reduced periprocedural risk were attenuated by the greater number of events occurring at follow-up than with bypass surgery, such that at five years the accumulated mean time free from adverse events was similar with both treatments."
— Gregg W. Stone, MD, Senior Faculty, Medicine, Cardiology, Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Director, Academic Affairs, Mount Sinai Heart