Objectives: The aim of the study was to compare the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) before the interventions and 6 and 12 months afterward, and to compare their HRQoL also with that of the general population.

Methods: The sample (n = 615) consisted of consecutive coronary artery disease patients treated with elective CABG (n = 432) or PTCA (n = 183). The baseline data before the treatments were collected by structured interview, the follow-up data mainly by mailed self-administered questionnaires. HRQoL was measured by the 15D. For comparisons, the groups were standardized for differences in socioeconomic and clinical characteristics with a regression analysis.

Results: At baseline, the average 15D scores of the patient groups were 0.752 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.743–0.761) in CABG and 0.730 (95 percent CI, 0.716–0.744) in PTCA. After standardization, the difference between the groups was statistically significant but not clinically important. These scores were significantly worse (statistically and clinically) than the score of 0.883 (95 percent CI, 0.871–0.879) in the general population sample matched with the gender and age distribution of the patients. By 6 months, the CABG and PTCA patients had experienced a statistically significant and clinically important improvement to 0.858 (95 percent CI, 0.844–0.872) and 0.824 (95 percent CI, 0.806–0.842), respectively. No significant change took place in either group from 6 to 12 months.

Conclusions: Both CABG and PTCA produces an approximately similar, clinically important improvement in HRQoL in 1-year follow-up.

Objectives: To examine the distribution of interventional cardiac catheterization laboratories, their case load, the time trends, and the regional variation of percutaneous transluminal cutaneous angioplasty (PTCA) utilization in Italy.

Methods: Analysis of data was provided by the annual reports of the Italian Group of Studies and Interventional Cardiology over the period from 1983 to 1996.

Results: The number of PTCA facilities and their use steadily increased, mainly in the North. In 1996 the utilization rate was 34 per 100,000 population, but only 60% of labs performed 200 or more procedures.

Conclusions: Dramatic time trends and regional variations often took place without an epidemiology and technology assessment-based planning process.