MINNEAPOLIS - A procedure used to clear clogged arteries is done inappropriately in more than one in 10 patients getting elective treatment, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The report is the first to examine whether the procedure known as angioplasty meets new guidelines for appropriate care. It found almost everyone needing urgent care to restore blood flow to the heart, such as those having a heart attack, received proper treatment, while 12 percent of those getting elective care might not have needed the procedure.
Most patients who were treated inappropriately had mild disease, few symptoms, or weren’t taking medicines that may have helped them avoid the surgery, said senior author John Spertus, clinical director of outcomes research at St. Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo. Sales of stents used to hold open the arteries, made by Boston Scientific Corp., Medtronic Inc., and Abbott Laboratories, plummeted in the past four years after studies suggested they were being overused.
“Some hospitals had very large inappropriate rates, where as many as 1 in 5 cases didn’t have enough evidence to support it,’’ Spertus said. “That’s an opportunity for hospitals to reflect on their decision-making process and consider if some of the patients they treat with angioplasty might be better treated with medicines or bypass surgery.’’
