The recently published ORBITA trial has upended the common belief that percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) plus stenting improves angina symptoms, exercise times and quality of life over optimal medical therapy alone (Lancet 2017 Nov 1. [published online] http://dx.doi.org/?10.1016/?S0140-6736(17)32714-9).
Worth the Expense?
Approximately 600,000 PCIs are performed each year in the United States, according to an analysis by the Deerfield Institute, a health care analytics firm based in New