Real-world outcomes of different treatment strategies in patients with diabetes and three-vessel coronary disease: a mean follow-up 6.3 years study from China

Background Patients with diabetes and triple-vessel disease (TVD) are associated with a high risk of events. The choice of treatment strategies remains a subject of discussion. In the real-world, we aim to compare the outcomes of medical therapy (MT), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) treatment strategies in patients with diabetes and TVD. Methods A total of 3117 consecutive patients with diabetes and TVD were enrolled. The primary endpoint was all-cause death and the secondary endpoint was major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE, composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction, or stroke). Results During the mean follow-up of 6.3 ± 2.6 years, 573 (18.4%) deaths and 1094 (35.1%) MACCE occurred. Multivariate analysis showed that PCI (hazard ratio [HR] 0.40, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.32–0.51) and CABG (HR 0.33, 95% CI 0.26–0.44) were associated with a lower risk of death compared with MT, with no difference between the PCI and CABG groups. When MACCE was the endpoint, PCI (HR 0.71, 95% CI 0.60–0.84) and CABG (HR 0.48, 95% CI 0.39–0.57) had a lower risk than MT. CABG was associated with a significantly lower risk of MACCE compared with PCI (HR 0.67, 95% CI 0.55–0.81), which was mainly attributed a lower risk in myocardial infarction, but a higher risk of stroke. Conclusions In this big real-world data and intermediate-term follow-up study, for patients with diabetes and TVD, PCI and CABG were associated with a lower risk of death and MACCE more than MT. The results suggest the importance of appropriate revascularization for diabetic patients with TVD. However, CABG was not associated with a lower risk of death, but with a lower risk of MACCE, compared with PCI. In the future, we perhaps should strengthen comprehensive treatment in addition to PCI or CABG.