Comparison of long-term outcome of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting versus drug-eluting stents in triple-vessel coronary artery disease

After the introduction of drug-eluting stents (DESs), percutaneous coronary intervention with DESs has challenged coronary artery bypass grafting as the gold standard for the treatment of 3-vessel coronary artery disease. The purpose of this study was to compare the long-term clinical results between percutaneous coronary intervention with DESs and off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB) in 3-vessel coronary artery disease. Two hundred ninety propensity-score matched patients with 3-vessel coronary artery disease treated by DESs or OPCAB were included. Mean follow-up duration was 58.8 ± 11.5 months (2 to 73) and follow-up rate was 97.9%. Five-year survival rates were 94.8 ± 2.1% in the DES group and 96.5 ± 1.5% in the OPCAB group (p = 0.658). Five-year rates of freedom from major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event were 71.6 ± 4.1% in the DES group and 89.6 ± 2.5% in the OPCAB group (p <0.001). Freedom from nonfatal myocardial infarction and target vessel revascularization rates were the determining factors between the 2 groups (p = 0.018 and p <0.001, respectively). The OPCAB group showed better clinical outcomes compared to the DES group in 3-vessel coronary artery disease after 5-year follow-up. Freedom from major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event rate was significantly higher in the OPCAB group mainly because of the lower incidence of target vessel revascularization and nonfatal myocardial infarction. Longer follow-up with randomization will clarify our present conclusions.