Minimally invasive coronary bypass versus percutaneous coronary intervention for isolated complex stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery

Objective: Debate continues as to the optimal minimally invasive treatment modality for complex disease of the left anterior descending coronary artery, with advocates for both robotic-assisted minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass and percutaneous coronary intervention with a drug-eluting stent. We analyzed the midterm outcomes of patients with isolated left anterior descending disease, revascularized by minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass or drug-eluting stent percutaneous coronary intervention, focusing on those with complex lesion anatomy. Methods: A retrospective review was undertaken of all patients who underwent coronary revascularization between January 2008 and December 2016. From this population, 158 propensity-matched pairs of patients were generated from 158 individuals who underwent minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass for isolated complex left anterior descending disease and from 373 patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention using a second-generation drug-eluting stent. Midterm survival and incidence of repeat left anterior descending intervention were analyzed for both patient groups. Results: Overall 9-year survival was not significantly different between patient groups both before and after propensity matching. Midterm mortality in the matched minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass group was low, irrespective of patient risk profile. By contrast, advanced age (hazard ratio, 1.10; P =.012) and obesity (hazard ratio, 1.09; P =.044) predicted increased late death after drug-eluting stent percutaneous coronary intervention among matched patients. Patients who underwent minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass were significantly less likely to require repeat left anterior descending revascularization than those who had percutaneous coronary intervention, both before and after propensity matching. Smaller stent diameter in drug-eluting stent percutaneous coronary intervention was associated with increased left anterior descending reintervention (hazard ratio, 3.53; P =.005). Conclusions: In patients with complex disease of the left anterior descending artery, both minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass and percutaneous coronary intervention are associated with similar excellent intermediate-term survival, although reintervention requirements are lower after surgery.