LOS ANGELES (AP) - A new study says heart bypass surgery is still the best option for patients with more than one clogged artery.
The study compares bypass with drug-coated stents, which have revolutionized health care.
The stents have been implanted in about six million people worldwide and are far better at keeping arteries open than bare-metal ones. And angioplasty has risen dramatically as bypass becomes less common.
Still, sales of stents have been hurt in the past year because of safety concerns and because of studies questioning the value of angioplasty itself.
This latest study further dims hopes that the less dramatic stent procedure would prove to be just as effective as bypass in people with multiple blockages.
On the upside, a second study has given stent makers some good news. It finds that using the devices "off label" -- or in non-approved situations -- isn't as dangerous as many people feared.
Both studies appear in tomorrow's New England Journal of Medicine.
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