Relation of the Number of Cardiovascular Conditions and Short-term Symptom Improvement After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Stable Angina Pectoris

With aging of the population, cardiovascular conditions (CC) are increasingly common in individuals undergoing PCI for stable angina pectoris (AP). It is unknown if the overall burden of CCs associates with diminished symptom improvement after PCI for stable AP. We prospectively administered validated surveys assessing AP, dyspnea, and depression to patients undergoing PCI for stable AP at our institution, 2016-2018. The association of CC burden and symptoms at 30-days post-PCI was assessed via linear mixed effects models. Included individuals (N = 121; mean age 68 ± 10 years; response rate = 42%) were similar to non-included individuals. At baseline, greater CC burden was associated with worse dyspnea, depression, and physical limitations due to AP, but not AP frequency or quality of life. PCI was associated with small improvements in AP and dyspnea (p ≤ 0.001 for both), but not depression (p = 0.15). After multivariable adjustment, including for baseline symptoms, CC burden was associated with a greater improvement in AP physical limitations (p = 0.01) and depression (p = 0.002), albeit small, but not other symptom domains (all p ≥ 0.05). In patients undergoing PCI for stable AP, increasing CC burden was associated with worse dyspnea, depression, and AP physical limitations at baseline. An increasing number of CCs was associated with greater improvements, though small, in AP physical limitations and depression. In conclusion, the overall number of cardiovascular conditions should not be used to exclude patients from PCI for stable AP on the basis of an expectation of less symptom improvement.