Sep 5, 2022 04:07 PM
https://theconversation.com/coronary-art...ial-189482
EXCERPTS: . . . People with heart failure also sometimes have a procedure to insert a stent – a small metal tube that is used to unblock a coronary artery. Stents are placed into the heart arteries by a cardiologist through tubes inserted either into the wrist or the groin and guided by X-rays. Trials have shown that stents are a very effective treatment for people with heart attacks and angina, but their effects in patients with heart failure have remained uncertain.
Some cardiologists had noticed improvements in patients’ symptoms and heart function after stenting, but researchers could not tell if these improvements were directly linked to the stents, or would have happened anyway with medications. Without proper research, treatment guidelines for the use of stents in patients with heart failure varied, with the NHS recommending against stenting and European guidelines recommending it in certain patients.
In this latest study, the REVIVED-BCIS2 trial, led by Professor Divaka Perera, we tested whether treatment with stents helped patients to live longer or to stay out of hospital. The trial was a collaboration of 40 NHS Hospitals in the UK and ran from 2013 to 2020.
[...] Our study did show that patients who had stents had a better quality of life in the first year, but after two years the difference disappeared and patients reported similar health. Although there was no benefit to inserting stents, there was also no sign that stents caused harm.
The results of the trial mean that stents should not be used to treat patients with heart failure caused by coronary artery disease unless they have another condition, such as angina or a recent heart attack. The design and the number of patients involved in the trial mean the answer is clear and further research to address this question is not needed at the moment... (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: . . . People with heart failure also sometimes have a procedure to insert a stent – a small metal tube that is used to unblock a coronary artery. Stents are placed into the heart arteries by a cardiologist through tubes inserted either into the wrist or the groin and guided by X-rays. Trials have shown that stents are a very effective treatment for people with heart attacks and angina, but their effects in patients with heart failure have remained uncertain.
Some cardiologists had noticed improvements in patients’ symptoms and heart function after stenting, but researchers could not tell if these improvements were directly linked to the stents, or would have happened anyway with medications. Without proper research, treatment guidelines for the use of stents in patients with heart failure varied, with the NHS recommending against stenting and European guidelines recommending it in certain patients.
In this latest study, the REVIVED-BCIS2 trial, led by Professor Divaka Perera, we tested whether treatment with stents helped patients to live longer or to stay out of hospital. The trial was a collaboration of 40 NHS Hospitals in the UK and ran from 2013 to 2020.
[...] Our study did show that patients who had stents had a better quality of life in the first year, but after two years the difference disappeared and patients reported similar health. Although there was no benefit to inserting stents, there was also no sign that stents caused harm.
The results of the trial mean that stents should not be used to treat patients with heart failure caused by coronary artery disease unless they have another condition, such as angina or a recent heart attack. The design and the number of patients involved in the trial mean the answer is clear and further research to address this question is not needed at the moment... (MORE - missing details)