Background
Randomized trials of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) versus coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery have routinely excluded patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Objectives
To evaluate the outcomes with PCI vs. CABG in patients with CKD.
Methods
Patients with CKD (eGFR <60mL/min/1.73m2) who underwent PCI using everolimus eluting stents (EES) were propensity score matched to patients who underwent isolated CABG surgery for multivessel coronary disease in New York State. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes were myocardial infarction(MI), stroke and repeat revascularization.
Results
Among 11,305 patients with CKD, 5,920 patients (2,960 pairs) were propensity score matched. At short-term (within 30 days), PCI was associated with a lower risk of death [HR=0.55; 95% CI=0.35-0.87], stroke [HR=0.22; 95% CI=0.12-0.42] and repeat revascularization [HR=0.48; 95%CI=0.23-0.98] when compared with CABG. At longer-term (mean 2.9 years), PCI was associated with a similar risk of death [HR=1.07; 95% CI=0.92-1.24], higher risk of myocardial infarction [HR=1.76; 95% CI=1.40-2.23], a lower risk of stroke [HR=0.56; 95% CI=0.41-0.76] and higher risk of repeat revascularization [HR=2.42; 95% CI=2.05-2.85]. In the subgroup of patients who underwent who underwent complete revascularization with PCI, the increased risk of myocardial infarction was no longer statistically significant [HR=1.18, 95% CI=0.67-2.09]. In the 243 pairs of patients with end stage renal disease on hemodialysis, PCI was associated with a significant higher risk of death [HR=2.02; 95% CI=1.40-2.93] and repeat revascularization [HR=2.44; 95% CI=1.50-3.96] when compared with CABG.
Conclusions
In subjects with CKD, CABG is associated with higher short-term risk of death, stroke and repeat revascularization whereas PCI with EES is associated with higher long-term risk of repeat revascularization and perhaps MI (in those with incomplete revascularization), with no mortality difference between CABG and PCI long-term. However, in the subgroup on dialysis, the results favored CABG over PCI.