Survival of Patients With Angina Pectoris Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With Intracoronary Pressure Wire Guidance

Abstract Background Intracoronary pressure wire measurement of fractional flow reserve (FFR) provides decision-making guidance during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). However, limited data exist on the effect of FFR on long-term clinical outcomes in patients with stable angina pectoris. Objectives The purpose of this study was to determine the association between the usage of FFR and all-cause mortality in patients with stable angina undergoing PCI. Methods Data was used from the SCAAR (Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry) on all patients undergoing PCI (with or without FFR guidance) for stable angina pectoris in Sweden between January 2005 and March 2016. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality, and the secondary endpoints were stent thrombosis (ST) or restenosis and peri-procedural complications. The primary model was multilevel Cox proportional hazards regression adjusted with Kernel-based propensity score matching. Results In total, 23,860 patients underwent PCI for stable angina pectoris; of these, FFR guidance was used in 3,367. After a median follow-up of 4.7 years (range 0 to 11.2 years), the FFR group had lower adjusted risk estimates for all-cause mortality (hazard ratio: 0.81; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.73 to 0.89; p  Conclusions In this observational study, the use of FFR was associated with a lower risk of long-term mortality, ST, and restenosis in patients undergoing PCI for stable angina pectoris. This study supports the current European and American guidelines for the use of FFR during PCI and shows that intracoronary pressure wire guidance confers prognostic benefit in patients with stable angina pectoris.