[Medical therapy in patients with left main coronary artery stenosis].

To elucidate the long-term prognosis of medically-treated patients with left main coronary artery (LMCA) lesions, 119 consecutive patients with LMCA lesions undergoing coronary angiography were analyzed retrospectively. Among these, 3 patients died soon after angiography and were excluded from this study. Among the remaining 116 patients, 22 were treated medically (Group M) for the following reasons: profound left ventricular (LV) dysfunction (3 patients), effective pharmacological treatment (10), and patients' refusal of surgical therapy (9). Among 94 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), 83 patients survived (Group S). During the follow-up period, cardiac events occurred in 5 patients in Group M; cardiac deaths in 3, non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) in one and late application of CABG in one. Two-year cardiac event-free rate after diagnosis was 77%, which remained unchanged thereafter. The cumulative survival rate was 83%. The incidence of cardiac events in Group M was higher than that in Group S (p < 0.01). However, cardiac event rates were similar between these 2 groups for patients with good collateral circulations to the left coronary arteries, no preceding MI and LV end-diastolic pressure less than 15 mmHg. We concluded that the Japanese patients with severe LMCA lesions who respond favorably to pharmacological intervention have unexpectedly good prognoses, however, obstructed collateral circulation to the left coronary system, the presence of preceding MI and high LV end-diastolic pressure were all high-risk factors for medically-treated patients.