Aims The German Angioplasty Bypass Surgery Investigation was designed to compare symptomatic efficacy and safety of percutaneous coronary balloon angioplasty (PTCA) with coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) in patients with symptomatic multi-vessel disease. This follow-up study was performed to determine the long-term outcome of patients following these interventions. Methods and results From 1986 to 1991, 359 patients with angina CCS class II-IV, age below 75 years, and coronary multi-vessel

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... isease requiring revascularization of at least two major coronary vessels were recruited at eight German centres and randomized to PTCA or CABG. From 337 patients undergoing the planned procedure, 324 patients could be followed-up (96%). Baseline parameters were identical in both groups, 2.2 + 0.6 vessels were treated in CABG patients, whereas 1.9 + 0.5 vessels were treated in PTCA patients. Thirty-seven per cent of surgical patients received internal mammary artery grafts, while no stents were used in patients undergoing PTCA. At the end of the 13-year follow-up period, the degree of angina, the degree of dyspnea, and the utilization of nitrates were comparable in both groups. With a total number of 76 deaths, Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a comparable distribution in both groups. Although time to first re-intervention was significantly shorter in the PTCA group, P , 0.001, frequencies of re-intervention (CABG, n ¼ 94; PTCA, n ¼ 136) and crossover rates (CABG to PTCA, n ¼ 49; PTCA to CABG, n ¼ 51) were comparable in both groups. Conclusion The results of our 13-year follow-up suggest that in patients with symptomatic multi-vessel disease, both PTCA and CABG are associated with a comparable long-term survival and symptomatic efficacy. How far these results may be altered by developments such as drug-eluting stents or offpump surgery remains to be determined.