This study has been conducted to compare one-year survival rate of patients who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) vs. percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in general as well as considering the number of diseased coronary vessels. In this retrospective study, we reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent CABG (484 cases) or PCI (292 cases) at out university heart center from 2009 to 2012. The mortality and survival was compared between the two studied groups based on left ventricular function and number of diseased coronary vessels. Twenty-seven patients (5.57%) died in CABG group which was significantly higher than in PCI group (8 cases, 2.73%); P= 0.04. However, no significant difference was observed regarding mortality between CABG and PCI groups in one- diseased vessel (5.15% vs. 2.22%, P= 0.28), two- diseased vessel (6.12% vs. 3.57%, P= 0.41), and three-vessel disease (5.41% vs.0, P= 0.4). Although PCI was associated with a better one-year survival rate compared to CABG, but number of the diseased coronary vessels did not affect survival rate significantly.

When symptoms of coronary artery disease (CAD) become severe and medical therapy cannot control symptoms, two options are available for patients: coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). CABG was first introduced in 1968 and rapidly became a standard way to alleviate ischemic symptoms in CAD patientsWith advancements achieved in CABG, morbidity and mortality of this procedure decreased over time and success rate increased significantly  In spite of introduction of minimally invasive methods in recent decade, CABG is still considered as first choice for patients who are not candidate for percutaneous surgeries or diabetic patients with involvement of two coronary vessels, or in some patients with left ventricular (LV) dysfunction. Angioplasty was introduced in 1977 as an alternative for CABG in selected patients. This is a less invasive method compared to CABG with good outcomes. There is increasing evidence that PCI use in CAD patients is growing with observation of successful outcomes  There are controversies about survival and mortality between CABG and PCI methods. For example Bravata et al. in their meta-analysis of 23 randomized clinical trials reported similar 10-year survival for both CABG and PCI, but a higher rate of procedure-related stroke in CABG group compared to PCI