Survival After Invasive or Conservative Management of Stable Coronary Disease.

Background: The ISCHEMIA trial (International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness With Medical and Invasive Approaches) compared an initial invasive versus an initial conservative management strategy for patients with chronic coronary disease and moderate or severe ischemia, with no major difference in most outcomes during a median of 3.2 years. Extended follow-up for mortality is ongoing.

Initial Invasive or Conservative Strategy for Stable Coronary Disease.

Background: Among patients with stable coronary disease and moderate or severe ischemia, whether clinical outcomes are better in those who receive an invasive intervention plus medical therapy than in those who receive medical therapy alone is uncertain.

Methods: We randomly assigned 5179 patients with moderate or severe ischemia to an initial invasive strategy (angiography and revascularization when feasible) and medical therapy or to an initial conservative strategy of medical therapy alone and angiography if medical therapy failed. The primary outcome was a composite of death from cardiovascular causes, myocardial infarction, or hospitalization for unstable angina, heart failure, or resuscitated cardiac arrest.

Sex differences in the effectiveness of early coronary computed tomographic angiography compared with standard emergency department evaluation for acute chest pain: the rule-out myocardial infarction with Computer-Assisted Tomography (ROMICAT)-II Trial.

Background: We evaluate sex-based differences in the effectiveness of early cardiac computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) and standard emergency department (ED) evaluation in patients with acute chest pain.

Methods And Results: In the Rule-Out Myocardial Infarction With Computer-Assisted Tomography (ROMICAT)-II multicenter, controlled trial, we randomized 1000 patients (47% women) 40 to 74 years of age with symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome to an early CCTA or standard ED evaluation. In this prespecified analysis, women in the CCTA arm had a greater reduction in length of stay, lower hospital admission rates, and lesser increased cumulative radiation dose than men in a comparison of ED strategies (P for interaction ≤0.

Pleiotropic effect of lovastatin, with and without cholestyramine, in the post coronary artery bypass graft (Post CABG) trial.

This study evaluated patients in the Post Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (Post CABG) trial for evidence of statin pleiotropic effects in preventing atherosclerotic progression in saphenous vein grafts (SVGs). We studied 1,116 of the 1,351 patients in the Post CABG trial who were randomized to aggressive (low-density lipoprotein [LDL] cholesterol target <85 mg/dl) or moderate (target LDL cholesterol <140 mg/dl) lovastatin treatment and who had sufficient data available. The generalized estimating equation models, adjusting for important covariates, were applied to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and probability of substantial atherosclerotic SVG progression (decrease in lumen diameter >or=0.