A large trial of CABG vs PCI (stenting) actually recommended certain guidelines which don't seem to be followed very much. From the large amount of data collected, it concluded, among other things, that multi vessel disease, diabetic patients and patients with reduced EF would much more favour CABG for a better outcome.
PCI is a newer technology than CABG but is evolving. With its big advantages I think it will eventually make CABG very rare, maybe obsolete. It has already moved from just ballooning to bare metal stents to drug eluting stents (containing a chemical borrowed from the world of chemotherapy). In the pipeline are stents which will dissolve over time. The tools developed are nothing short of amazing, in such small scale. Just picture the 3mm diamond tipped rotating cutter, operated by a foot pedal, and also has a high pressure jet to flush away debris. There are tiny lasers, trimming tools to cut plaque and store it inside the cutter, there are safety nets which can be expanded further down a vessel to catch debris. There is a wide variety of precision tools and they are being replaced for better ones all the time. A cardiac surgeon has to rely on images previously taken of the inside of the vessel or hopefully go by his experience of where to put grafts. This drawback does cause mistakes and I had an artery grafted directly into the middle of a long total blockage. PCI of course has the cardiologist inside the artery with real time images. He can see what is happening inside any vessel at any time, live.
Thank you for your comment , i am not a doctor, our doctor said she is 65 years old better you do angioplasty if less than 2 blockages better to do angioplasty and even she is having diabetics since 25 years.
Thanking you
softep
Stent don't always work, and they don't last. I don't know why the dotor would ask you, instead of advising you. Are you a doctor? I would have thought that 3 in that bad of shape, that the bypass should have been done instead. Bypasses are much more successful, tho they take longer to recover from they have less then a 2 percent chance of any complications. Unless they were worried of other health issues she has?