According to a new study researchers say they found that chest pain relief and improved quality of life were similar in elderly patients treated with angioplasty and those on medication , but those treated with invasive surgery reached these benefits earlier.
Patients treated with surgery appeared to benefit in other ways, as well. Medically treated patients required more antianginal drugs throughout the study. They also experienced more non-fatal events, such as being hospitalized again for chronic chest pain that failed to respond to medication. Nearly half of all medically treated patients continued to experience chronic chest pain and had one of the invasive procedures, usually within the first six months of the study.According to the study, It was observed that specialists often choose the more conservative treatment of medication for older patients because of concerns that the risks of surgery outweigh the benefits. However, results of the study, involving patients 75 years and older, show about 91 percent of patients treated invasively and 95 percent treated with medication were alive at six months and survival remained similar after five years.
