Long-Term Outcomes after Revascularization for Stable Ischemic Heart Disease: An Individual Patient-Level Pooled Analysis of 19 Randomized Coronary Stent Trials

Background: Whether revascularization improves prognosis in stable ischemic heart disease is controversial. Methods: Individual patient-level data from 19 prospective, randomized stent trials were pooled. Rates of 5-year major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE; a composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction, or ischemia-driven target lesion revascularization) were assessed and compared after percutaneous coronary intervention with bare-metal stents (BMS) and first-generation and second-generation drug-eluting stents (DES1 and DES2, respectively). Poisson multivariable regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of adverse events. Results: Among 10 987 patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention for stable ischemic heart disease, 1550, 2776, and 6661 received BMS, DES1, and DES2, respectively. The 5-year rates of MACE progressively declined with evolution in stent technology (BMS: 24.1% versus DES1: 17.9% versus DES2: 13.4%, P<0.0001). However, MACE rates between 1 and 5 years increased from BMS to DES1, then declined with DES2 (BMS: 7.4% versus DES1: 10.2%, DES2: 8.5%, P=0.02). Conclusions: Patients with stable ischemic heart disease remain at substantial risk for long-term MACE after revascularization with percutaneous coronary intervention, even with contemporary DES. New approaches to reduce the ongoing risk of MACE beyond 1 year after stent implantation are necessary.