The OAT extension study , a 6 year follow-up study on total occlusion following STEMI has just out in circulation 2011 October , online first . http://circ.ahajournals.org
There were two important conclusions from this study
- Long term follow-up to 6 years confirmed the lack of benefit of routine PCI in post MI total occlusions.
- Inappropriately done PCIs convert stable coronary occlusive disease into potentially dangerous subsets with risk of re-occlusion (Which could very well be an acute coronary syndrome )
The second one is of critical important than the first .In a nut shell , it suggests routine PCI in CTOs could increase the risk of ACS many fold in other wise stable patients.
Final message
This OAT extension study should not experience the same fate of COURAGE and OAT -1 which were successful bitten and buried by most interventional cardiologists.
This time they have to swallow the unpalatable truth ! If they don’t , our patients would be the ultimate losers and
will pay the price dearly !
Personal foot note :
One of my colleague asked me . . . Why am I always after the Interventional cardiology community !
I said , it is not my job to pull down any one group. I am just exposing the irony of “selective usage” or “selective neglect” of scientific data by many of us !
Dr.S.Venkatesan MD 