Stents and Angioplasty: Do these procedures protect against heart attacks?

Recent articles in the New England Journal of Medicine have editorialized on the effectiveness of stents and angioplasty vs. other methods of medical therapy heart attack prevention techniques.

From 1999 to 2004 1,149 mostly male Caucasian patients with stable coronary artery disease underwent stent surgery and/or angioplasty along with medical therapy while 1,138 mostly male Caucasian patients with stable coronary artery disease solely received medical therapy only.

In the stent plus medical therapy group there were 211 medical events including heart attack and non-specific death vs. 202 medical events heart attack and non-specific death in the medical therapy group only. Medical therapy is considered as a reduction of risk factors and lifestyle intervention.

All patients were from the Veterans Administration and were given 81 to 325 mg of aspirin per day or clopidogrel, if unable to take aspirin. All patients received medication to lower LDL (low density lipoprotein).

As with most studies, findings are not totally conclusive. Yet, percentages of participants provide variations for and against various treatments which suggest further focused studies may be needed. One thing to realize is that the patient population must be taken into consideration for any study as to their high and low risk factors.

In the COURAGE trial (clinical outcomes utilizing revascularization and aggressive drug evaluation) patients were successful in achieving goals for both lipid levels and blood pressures. Unfortunately they had less success meeting more difficult objectives such as weight loss, smoking cessation, and increased exercise - all requiring lifestyle changes.

The use of stents and angioplasty decreased chest pain and short term performance but did not prevent heart attacks and death.

If your doctor suggests stents and/or angioplasty to prevent a heart attack, please ask him to read the following study and consider your options. If you or a loved one is the recipient of a stent and have experienced serious health problems and blood clots, you may wish to consider consulting a lawyer about a personal injury or unsafe medical device lawsuit. Please contact Anapol Schwartz for your free legal consultation.