Researchers Study Benefits of Bypass Surgery vs. Angioplasty

Heart bypass surgery is better and more cost-effective than angioplasty if the patient has three blocked blood vessels; angioplasty is better if there is only one blocked vessel and the procedures are equivalent for two vessels, Stanford researchers report in the Jan. 9 New England Journal of Medicine.

The team studied 934 patients who had one of the procedures and found that both are effective in the hands of experienced surgeons.

Dr. Mark A. Hlatky and his colleagues concluded that the chance of complete pain relief is better with bypass, but at the price of more initial discomfort, a longer hospital stay and a longer recovery time. The average initial cost of angioplasty ($21,113) was about 65% that of surgery ($32,347), but because most angioplasty patients required a second procedure, the five-year costs were equivalent.