Dp. Faxon et al., VALUE OF VISUAL VERSUS CENTRAL QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTS OF ANGIOGRAPHIC SUCCESS AFTER PERCUTANEOUS TRANSLUMINAL CORONARY ANGIOPLASTY, The American journal of cardiology, 77(12), 1996, pp. 1067-1072
This study examined the optimal angiographic definition for long-term
success after angioplasty and compared visual and quantitative angiogr
aphic measurements in assessing outcome. The National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institutes-Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty Regis
try prospectively followed 1,768 patients from 15 clinical centers. Sy
mptom-free survival, defined as survival without angina, myocardial in
farction, bypass surgery, or death, occurred in 59% of patients. In a
subset of 393 patients, quantitative coronary angiography (QCA), done
at a core angiographic laboratory, was compared with visual site readi
ngs. Although there was considerably more variability for visual readi
ngs, a site reading of a change in percent stenosis of >20% correlated
highly with symptom-free survival (64.6% for patients who had all les
ions successfully dilated, 48% for patients with partial success, and
only 21% for patients without angiographic success; p < 0.001). Simila
r findings were seen for other angiographic definitions, but a change
of >20% was most discriminatory. In contrast, QCA readings had little
or no predictive value. This study confirms that visual assessment of
the immediate change in percent stenosis is predictive of a successful
1-year outcome. A change of greater than 20% is most discriminatory a
nd should still be used to define angiographic success. QCA does not a
ppear to be superior to visual assessment in predicting 1-year outcome
.