Physiology-guided myocardial revascularisation in complex multivessel coronary artery disease: beyond the 2014 ESC/EACTS guidelines on myocardial revascularisation

For patients with multivessel coronary artery disease there are two options for revascularisation: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery (CABG). In daily clinical practice, a heart team consisting of an interventional cardiologist and a cardiothoracic surgeon decide on the most appropriate mode of revascularization. The current European guidelines on myocardial revascularisation include updated recommendations for patients with multivessel coronary artery disease. In patients with stable angina, three-vessel disease and a SYNTAX score of 23-32 or >32 a class I level of evidence A recommendation for CABG was issued as compared to PCI which received a class III recommendation. Although the authors of this viewpoint greatly appreciate the efforts of the guideline committee, we believe that it was an oversight not to include recommendations on physiology-guided PCI in multivessel disease (MVD). In this viewpoint, it is argued that physiology-guided revascularization using current-generation drug-eluting stents is a reasonable alternative for complex multivessel disease.