[Coronary angioplasty compared with aortocoronary bypass in patients with multivascular coronary disease].

Over the past two decades the use of angioplasty has rapidly expanded. As technology and experience have advanced, operators are increasingly faced with two-vessel and three-vessel disease. Coronary artery bypass graft surgery and coronary balloon angioplasty are two possible approaches for patients with multivessel coronary disease. Randomized trials comparing these two different procedures have found no difference in early as well as late mortality between assigned treatment groups. The Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation (BARI) showed a better long-term outcome with coronary artery bypass in the subgroup of patients with treated diabetes (35% died within 5 years after angioplasty compared with 19% who underwent surgery). Repeat revascularization was more common after angioplasty. Surgery offers more complete revascularization, but morbidity is higher; angioplasty is less invasive but patients are more likely to need another revascularization procedure mainly related to the occurrence of restenosis. Restenosis is often associated with the recurrence of symptoms requiring further revascularization. The use of stents and inhibitors of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa, minimally invasive surgical techniques and all-arterial grafting have the potential to change the scenery of coronary artery revascularization in the next few years.