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(Circulation. 1995;92:1676-1677.)
© 1995 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

Coronary Angioplasty in Patients With Stable Angina Pectoris and One-Vessel Disease

Robert C. Schlant, MD

From the Emory University School of Medicine and Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, Ga.

Correspondence to Robert C. Schlant, MD, Grady Memorial Hospital, 69 Butler St, Atlanta, GA 30303.

Key Words: editorials • angioplasty • angina

	Introduction

 
In this issue of Circulation, Strauss et al¹ report important substudy results from the Veterans Affairs ACME study.² The investigators of the ACME study compared the effects of coronary angioplasty (105 patients) with medical therapy (107 patients) in men who had stable angina pectoris, a positive exercise test, or a myocardial infarction within the previous 3 months who also had at least 70% to 99% stenosis of the proximal two thirds of one major epicardial coronary artery that was suitable for angioplasty. At 6 months of follow-up, all the patients had repeat exercise testing and coronary arteriography.

The study of Strauss et al¹ used data from self-administered questionnaires that were completed by the participants in ACME to evaluate the benefits of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) on the quality of life (QOL). Although some QOL data have been criticized for being relatively soft and nonobjective, it is reassuring that in the PTCA group in the ACME study there was a strong correlation between the improvement in patient scores in questionnaires designed to assess both physical functioning and psychological well-being at 6 months and the objective improvement in the percent stenosis of the index lesion in the follow-up coronary arteriogram at 6 months.¹ The group of patients treated with coronary angioplasty had a greater percentage who were free of angina (64% versus 46%), a greater increase in the duration of their exercise test at 6 months (2.1 versus 0.5 minutes), and a greater improvement in angina-free time during treadmill testing.^{2 3}

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