Comparison of Long-Term Mortality in Patients With Previous Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Who Underwent Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With Versus Without Optimal Medical Therapy

Although current guidelines have highlighted the importance of evidence-based optimal medical therapy (OMT) in patients with previous coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), the effect of OMT on post-CABG patients requiring secondary coronary revascularization on prognosis remains unknown. We sought to examine the impact of OMT on post-CABG patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) as secondary revascularization. A total of 632 consecutive post-CABG patients who underwent PCI between 2001 and 2013 at our hospital (84% men, median age 71 years) were divided into 2 groups: patients who were discharged with OMT and patients who were discharged without OMT (non-OMT). OMT was defined as the combination of an antiplatelet agent, statin, β blocker, and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker. Despite having a higher prevalence of clinical comorbidities, patients with OMT (n = 163) had a lower prevalence of all-cause death than those without OMT (n = 469) during a median follow-up of 95 months (OMT group 21.5%, non-OMT group 34.1%, p = 0.002). Both groups had similar procedural success rates. In a propensity-matched cohort (n = 146 each), OMT was associated with lower rates of all-cause death and cardiac death than non-OMT 8 years after PCI. In multivariable analysis, OMT was an independent predictor of all-cause death (hazard ratio [HR] 0.49, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.34 to 0.72, p <0.001). In conclusion, OMT plays a protective role and reduces all-cause death in post-CABG patients requiring subsequent PCI. Outside of the domain of coronary revascularization, OMT could be considered an essential treatment in this patient population.