Heart Disease Health Center

Heart Attack Care: Drugs vs. Stents

Quality of Life and Treatment Costs continued...

It should be emphasized again that the patients enrolled in the OAT trial were all stable and without symptoms. Balloon angioplasty and stenting "does not appear beneficial for this highly selected group ... but that doesn't mean that patients who are very impaired or have poor quality of life and angina will not benefit," study researcher Judith S. Hochman, MD, of New York University School of Medicine, tells WebMD.

National Heart Lung and Blood Institute senior cardiologist George Sopko, MD, tells WebMD that the OAT trial highlights the importance of seeking treatment early when heart attack symptoms occur.

"When someone is having a heart attack, time is of the essence," he says. "We know that if we can reopen blocked arteries and provide adequate blood flow within the first hour or so the patient will usually have minimal damage."