Ten-year follow-up of balloon dilatation in stable and unstable angina pectoris

Objective: To assess the cardiac status of patients ten yea rs after percutaneous transluminal coronary artery angioplasty (PTCA). Patients and methods: Data of 534 patients (436 men, 98 women; mean age 53.2 +/- 8 years) in whom a PTCA had been performed between 1983 and 1986 were analysed, based on a questionnaire answered 121 +/- 11 months after the initial procedure. At the time of PTCA 184 patients (35 %) had unstable angina, 350 (65 %) stable angina. Results: 116 patients (63%) with unstable angina and 164 (47 %) with stable angina had at least one cardiac event after the initial PTCA (repeat PTCA, bypass operation, myocardial infarction, death). None of these events occurred in 68 patients (37%) with unstable or in 186 (53%) with stable angina (P <0.001). After 10 years 196 of the 302 surviving patients with stable angina (65 %) and 104 of the 153 surviving patients with unstable angina (68 %) were symptom-free. Conclusions: Ten-year follow-up after PTCA has shown that cardiac events are significantly more frequent in patients who had had unstable angina than in those with stable angina. This difference already develops in the first year post-PTCA, with no increase later. Symptoms are lastingly improved after 10 years in both groups of patients.