Atrial fibrillation — a curable condition?

1 year and 56% vs 82% after 2 years. Therefore, in diabetic patients with multivessel disease amenable to percutaneous intervention the increased rate of major cardiac events in the follow-up period must be emphasized and carefully weighed against the increased perioperative mortality and morbidity. Most patients with multivessel coronary artery disease, including patients with high operative risks, can safely be treated with either percutaneous intervention or CABG. Diabetic patients with multivessel disease are the only group that is better served with CABG in the long-term. The future availability of coated stents may dramatically reduce restenosis rates. Since restenosis is responsible for most repeat interventions in percutaneous intervention patients, this will surely change our practice. If restenosis rates are substantially decreased, percutaneous intervention might become the preferred revascularization technique in all patients with lesions amenable to percutaneous interventions. F. R. EBERLI B. MEIER Swiss Cardiovascular Center, Bern, Switzerland