Reduction of cardiovascular event rate: different effects of cardiac rehabilitation in CABG and PCI patients

Objective - In coronary artery disease, the implementation of a cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programme favourably affects cardiovascular prognosis. However, it remains uncertain whether patients benefit to a similar extent from CR after coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). In this study, we have assessed whether CR is equally effective for suppressing the two-year cardiovascular event incidence after CABG or PCI. Methods and results - 194 PCI and 149 CABG patients participated in a three-month CR programme, while 245 PCI and 89 CABG patients received standard care. After the completion of CR during a two-year follow-up, data on cardiovascular risk factors, medication and cardiovascular events (repeat coronary revascularisation, acute myocardial infarction, and death) were collected from hospital files. Both CABG and PCI patients included into CR showed a significantly lower mortality, as compared to control patients (0.6% vs. 4.2%, P < 0.05). However, total cardiovascular disease incidence was significantly lower as a result of CR in CABG patients (4.7% vs. 14.0%, P < 0.05), but not in PCI patients (19.1 % vs. 22.4%, P > 0.05). Conclusion - When following a similar 3-month cardiac rehabilitation programme, the reduction of cardiovascular disease incidence during 2years of follow-up is different between PCI and CABG patients.