Background: The clinical characteristics that identify high-risk subsets of patients with unprotected left main coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) have not been well established.
Methods and results: Between January 2000 and June 2006, 2240 patients with unprotected left main coronary artery disease underwent PCI (n=1102) or CABG (n=1138). Twenty-six preprocedural parameters were evaluated by univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis to identify independent predictors of all-cause mortality and target-vessel revascularization. Interaction tests were performed to compare heterogeneities of effects of preprocedural parameters depending on the revascularization methods. During follow-up (median of 3.1 years), 187 patients died (78 PCI and 109 CABG) and 149 patients had target-vessel revascularization (121 PCI and 28 CABG). EuroSCORE > or =6 was an independent predictor of death in both groups. Additional independent predictors were chronic renal failure and previous congestive heart failure in the PCI group and age > or =75 years, atrial fibrillation, right coronary artery disease, and left main distal bifurcation disease in the CABG group. Interaction analysis showed no heterogeneities of the effects of variables depending on the revascularization methods. Independent predictors of target-vessel revascularization were acute coronary syndrome and left main distal bifurcation disease in the PCI group and history of coronary intervention in the CABG group. The interaction between previous PCI and treatment remained after adjustment for all independent predictors of target-vessel revascularization (interaction P=0.0345).
Conclusions: Several clinical characteristics were identified as important preprocedural predictors of long-term adverse outcomes after percutaneous or surgical revascularization in patients with unprotected left main coronary artery disease.