Purchases of medical therapy recommended for coronary artery disease before and after elective revascularisation

Abstract

Aims: We studied the purchases of medical therapy recommended for coronary artery disease patients before and after elective revascularisation (percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary bypass grafting (CABG)). Methods: All patients who underwent an elective PCI (N = 1557) or CABG (N = 1768) at the Heart Center, Kuopio University hospital between 2007 and 2014 were included. Data were collected from the hospital’s coronary register and national registers, and obtained for 3 years before and 1 year after the revascularisation. Results: Altogether 85.2% of PCI patients and 88.1% of CABG patients had purchased lipid-modifying agents before the procedure, and 94.9% and 96.8% during the post-procedure follow-up year, respectively. Beta-blocking agents were purchased by 84.9% of PCI patients before and by 87.9% after the procedure and by 86.3% of CABG patients before and 97.1% after the operation. Of PCI patients, 64.3% had purchased organic long-acting nitrates before the procedure and 54.4% also after the procedure. Among CABG patients, the purchase of organic long-acting nitrates fell from 59.7% before to 10.1% after the operation. The use of ADP receptor blocking agents increased in PCI patients (26.3 to 83.9%) and the use of warfarin in CABG patients (9.4 to 21.3%). Medication purchases were more common among those who had greater use of hospital services before and after the procedures. Conclusions: In both PCI and CABG patients, the use of medical therapy before and after revascularisation procedure complied with current guidelines. Purchases of long-acting nitrates were common in the PCI group even after the procedure.