Study by Buffalo researcher suggests many angioplasties are unnecessary

By Henry Davis
Buffalo News Staff Reporter
The Buffalo News
3/26/2007

A major new study led by a Buffalo researcher offers the strongest evidence yet that aggressive drug treatment in many patients works just as well to prevent heart attacks and death as procedures to unclog arteries.

The study, reported today by The New England Journal of Medicine, is likely to shake up the medical world and change treatment for heart disease.

An estimated one million patients a year have narrowed or blocked arteries of the heart opened by balloon angioplasty and stenting. The research strongly suggests a large portion of the procedures are unnecessary.

"For two decades, angioplasty has been the standard treatment. It still has an appropriate place. But for the great majority of patients, we now know medical therapy is just as effective," said Dr. William E. Boden, medical director of cardiovascular services at Kaleida Health.

Boden, the lead researcher, was to announce the results today at the American College of Cardiology annual scientific session in New Orleans.

A full report on the study will appear in Tuesday's Buffalo News.

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