Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘medicaltherapy vs ptca’

25th Anniversary of a landmark study in coronary revascularization

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on October 30, 2024|

This study was released in NEJM without much fanfare at the fag end of the last century, (rather the millennium) in 1999. Dr. Bertram Pitt and his team scripted this from the Department of Medicine, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, USA. One can’t expect even in your dreams a study like this would be be done in the future.

This study tested PTCA vs with a single lipid lowering drug in terms of plaque regression. This conclusion is explicitly illustrated here, and the dramatically dissociated Kaplan and Myers would tell the whole story.

Can you name this trial that can withstand any period of time?

One clue : We do prescribe this drug every day and it beats angioplasty. Some of you may have got it right. Yes, It is the AVERT study: Atorvastatin versus revascularization treatment.(Ref 1) that dare to compare PTCA with a humble statin one to one, and we found the winner long long ago. This study also defined the bench mark for dosage of high intensity Atrovastatin at 80mg/per day.

Final message

I am sure, many of the current generation cardiologists may not know about this study and the conclusion might amuse them as well . The truth is , It deserves a 25-year anniversary celebration. Wishes and congratulations to Dr. Bertram Pitt.

Reference

Pitt B, Waters D, Brown WV, van Boven AJ, Schwartz L, Title LM, Eisenberg D, Shurzinske L, McCormick LS. Aggressive lipid-lowering therapy compared with angioplasty in stable coronary artery disease. Atorvastatin versus Revascularization Treatment Investigators. N Engl J Med. 1999 Jul 8;341(2):70-6. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199907083410202. PMID: 10395630.

Read Full Post »