Drugs often rival angioplasty, study finds

AP/San Francisco Chronicle, August 15, 2008

There is now more evidence that drugs should be tried first and often are just as effective in patients with chronic chest pain who are not in big danger of a heart attack. The slim early advantage for angioplasty at relieving pain in these nonemergency cases starts to fade within six months and vanishes after three years, according to a report from a landmark heart study. That is sooner than the five years doctors estimated in 2007 after their first analysis of the study.