What Doctors Don't Tell YouAngioplasty, the “miracle” heart operation, has taken another knock.
Researchers have found that it is no better than thrombolysis, the drug therapy, in preventing death in patients suffering from serious heart problems.
This study follows a recent trial that showed angioplasty fared badly against bypass surgery.
The latest research compared 1050 patients given angioplasty and 2095 treated with thrombolysis admitted to hospitals in Seattle. Risk of death was 5.6 per cent in the thrombolysis patients, and 5.5 per cent among those given angioplasty (N Engl J Med, 1996; 335: 1253-60).
See the WDDTY Guide to the Heart, and WDDTY vol 4, no 2 for more information on angioplasty.
Daniel Redwood DC
Tom Ferguson MD
