Survival after PCI or CABG for left main stem coronary stenosis. A single institution registry from the NOBLE study period.

Objective. To analyze 10 years mortality in an all-comers registry of patients with left main coronary artery stenoses treated with either PCI or CABG. Design. Patients with left main coronary stenoses treated with either PCI or CABG in the period of the NOBLE trial (2010-2015) were all included in an institutional database and registry (University Hospital North Norway). Fifty-six of totally 429 patients were included in the randomized, multicenter and international NOBLE trail; 426 eligible patients from the trial and registry were analyzed for mortality on 20 October 2020. The longest observation time on this date was 3611 days (9.9 years); 205 patients were treated with PCI and 221 with CABG. The patients treated with PCI were 74 ± 10 years vs 68 ± 10 years (CABG). Also, on average the PCI patients had more comorbidities (lower ejection fraction, more peripheral artery disease, more often acute presentation). Results. Survival at the last observation date was 80% for CABG patients vs 48% for PCI. A Cox proportional hazards analysis found PCI to be the strongest independent predictor for mortality (HR = 2.5, 95% CI 1.7-3.7). Also, COPD, chronic kidney disease, age, peripheral vascular disease, cerebrovascular incidents and acute presentation were factor predicting increased 10 years mortality. Conclusion. These data indicate that life expectancy in the overall patient population is shorter for patient treated for left main disease with PCI than with CABG.