Clearing more arteries works in angioplasty trial

Heart attack patients who undergo angioplasty for a clogged artery that caused the attack may do better if other clogged arteries are done at the same time, new research suggests. Patients who had multiple coronary arteries opened with angioplasty techniques during emergency surgery were 65 percent less likely to die, have a repeat heart attack or chest pains known as angina during the follow-up period than those who only had the so-called "culprit artery" opened. The randomized trial of 465 patients in Britain was halted early, in January 2013, when the results in the group in which multiple arteries were opened became evident, the researchers reported. The study was published online September 1 in the New England Journal of Medicine to coincide with presentation of the results at the European Society of Cardiology 2013 Congress in Amsterdam