Dr. Farzan Filsoufi Advises New Heart Study Shows Diabetic Patients with Multiple Blockages Live Longer with Bypass Surgery than Stents

NEW YORK, Jan. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The FREEDOM trial, the first long-term, comparative study of its kind exclusively for patients with diabetes and advanced multivessel coronary artery disease (CAD) revealed that diabetics with CAD live longer, and are less likely to suffer a non-fatal heart attack, when treated with bypass surgery instead of drug-eluting stents (DES), tiny, medicine-coated mesh tubes that prop open clogged arteries. The findings were presented in the 2012 American Heart Association's (AHA) Scientific Sessions. 

People with diabetes mellitus, a disease that affects an estimated 14.5 million Americans, are at higher risk for death from coronary artery disease and face increased risks from procedures to treat CAD, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Coronary artery disease in diabetic patients progresses faster than CAD in people who do not have diabetes.

The study reviewed 5-year outcomes from 2005 to 2010 at 140 international sites for a total of 1,900 patients with diabetes and multivessel CAD who underwent randomization between coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with DES, also known as angioplasty. All patients were prescribed standard medical therapy for coronary artery disease and diabetes.

Michael E. Farkouh, MD et al, in the conclusion of the article which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine wrote, "For patients with diabetes and advanced coronary artery disease, CABG was superior to PCI in that it significantly reduced rates of death and myocardial infarction, with a higher rate of stroke."  In summary, the study found that at five years the combined rate of death, myocardial infarction or stroke was 8% lower in CABG patients compared to PCI patients.

Dr. Farzan Filsoufi, leading cardiothoracic surgeon at the Mount Sinai Medical Center participated actively in the study and advises, "The result of the FREEDOM trial is going to definitely establish CABG as the preferred treatment modality in high risk diabetic patients with multivessel coronary disease."

The full manuscript for the Future Revascularization Evaluation in patients with Diabetes mellitus: Optimal management of Multivessel disease (FREEDOM) Trial is published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

About Dr. Farzan Filsoufi

Dr. Farzan Filsoufi is a high-volume cardiothoracic surgeon at the Mount Sinai Medical Center with excellent surgical outcomes which are published annually by the New York State Department of Health. Dr. Filsoufi is a co-author with Drs. Carpentier and Adams of the reference textbook, "Carpentier's Reconstructive Valve Surgery," published in 2010. He is co-editor with Dr. Carpentier of the textbook, "Perioperative Care in Cardiac Surgery," which will be published in 2013. Drs. Filsoufi and Carpentier launched www.themitralvalve.org an educational website on valvular heart disease with an emphasis on mitral valve pathology. The editorial board of the website is comprised of internationally recognized physicians in the field of cardiovascular medicine including Drs. Starr and Carpentier.

SOURCE Dr. Farzan Filsoufi