Comparing coronary artery bypass grafting with drug-eluting stenting in patients with diabetes mellitus and multivessel coronary artery disease: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES: Although drug-eluting stents (DESs) reduce the rate of target vessel revascularization compared with bare-metal stents, the results of DESs for patients with diabetes and multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD) in the DES era are inconsistent. This meta-analysis was undertaken to assess the efficacy and safety of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) compared with drug-eluting stent implantation in patients with diabetes mellitus and multivessel coronary artery disease. METHODS: We conducted a search of Medline, EMBASE from January 2003 to July 2013 by two reviewers independently, using the terms 'coronary artery bypass graft surgery', 'drug-eluting stent', 'sirolimus-eluting stent', 'paclitaxel-eluting stent', 'diabetes mellitus' and 'multivessel disease', according to established criteria. Studies comparing CABG with DES in patients with diabetes and multivessel CAD with a minimum follow-up of 1 year were included. RESULTS: Thirteen studies including 6653 patients with diabetes (3237 who underwent CABG and 3416 who underwent DES implantation) met the selection criteria. The mean follow-up period was 2.9 years (range 1-5). Compared with DES, CABG was associated with a lower risk for major adverse cardiac events (odds ratio [OR] 0.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.46-0.58), driven mainly by a lower risk for repeat revascularization (OR 0.29, 95% CI 0.23-0.35). There was no significant difference with regard to death (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.75-1.05). Patients in the CABG group had a higher risk for stroke events (OR 2.09, 95% CI 1.45-3.02). CONCLUSIONS: Percutaneous coronary intervention with DES in patients with diabetes and multivessel CAD is safe, but has a high risk of long-term repeat revascularization. CABG should remain the standard procedure for diabetic patients with multivessel CAD.