Overall, the keenly anticipated ISCHEMIA study results suggest that invasive procedures, stents and bypass surgery, should be used more sparingly in patients with stable heart disease and the decision to use them should be less rushed, experts said. It echoes a similar study 12 years ago that was critiqued by interventional cardiologists, the doctors performing the invasive procedures. About 500,000 heart stent procedures are performed each year in the United States, and the researchers estimate that about a fifth of those are for people with stable heart disease. More than 5,000 patients with moderate to severe stable heart disease from 320 sites in 37 countries were randomly assigned after a stress test indicated heart disease. For example, an elderly patient with stable heart disease who isn’t very active but suffers some chest pain may decide on drug therapy.

Source: Washington Post November 16, 2019 19:02 UTC