Late follow-up of 781 patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass grafting for an isolated obstruction in the left anterior descending coronary artery

Seven hundred eighty-one patients with isolated left anterior descending coronary atherosclerosis treated with either coronary artery bypass grafting or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty between January 1980 and December 1984 were studied to determine late survival and event-free survival. Follow-up was complete in 775 patients (99.4%). Actuarial survival at 5 years was 98% for surgical patients and 95% for angioplasty patients (p = 0.02). Five-year event-free survival (freedom from myocardial infarction, bypass grafting, angioplasty, and death) was 93% for surgical patients and 62% for angioplasty patients. This study suggests that the higher initial cost and complexity of bypass surgery may be justified by superior long-term results.