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QUESTION: In patients with multivessel coronary artery disease, how effective and cost effective is coronary stenting compared with bypass surgery for reducing clinical outcomes at 1 year?
Design
Randomised (allocation concealed*), unblinded,* controlled trial with 12 months of follow up (Arterial Revascularization Therapies Study [ARTS]).
Setting
67 centres in 19 countries.
Patients
1205 patients (mean age 61 y, 77% men) with angina pectoris or silent ischaemia plus ≥ 2 lesions in different vessels or territories that were amenable to stenting. Exclusion criteria included previous bypass surgery, ejection fraction ≤ 30%, congestive heart failure, history of stroke, and recent transmural myocardial infarction (MI). 99% of patients in the stent group and 96% in the bypass surgery group received their allocated treatment.
Intervention
600 patients were allocated to stenting …
Footnotes
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Source of funding: Cordis.
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For correspondence:Dr P W Serruys, Department of Interventional Cardiology Heart Center, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Dr Molewaterplein, 40, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Fax +31 10 4369154.