Effect of Smoking Status on the Long-Term Outcome after Successful Percutaneous Coronary Revascularization

Abstract

Background Cigarette smoking is known to be deleterious to patients with coronary artery disease, but the effect of smoking on the clinical outcome of percutaneous coronary revascularization is unknown. Methods Patients who had undergone successful percutaneous coronary revascularization at the Mayo Clinic between 1979 and 1995 were divided into nonsmokers (n = 2009), former smokers (those who had stopped smoking before the procedure, n = 2259), quitters (those who stopped smoking after the procedure, n = 435), and persistent smokers (those who smoked before and after the procedure, n = 734). Results The maximal follow-up was 16 years (mean [±SD], 4.5±3.4). The nonsmokers and former smokers had similar base-line characteristics and outcomes. The quitters and persistent smokers were younger than the nonsmokers and former smokers and had more favorable clinical and angiographic characteristics. In analyses adjusted for confounding base-line characteristics, the persistent smokers had a greater relative risk...