Researchers herein assessed the recently reported results of the International Study of Comparative Health Effectiveness with Medical and Invasive Approaches, the largest prospective trial of optimal medical therapy (OMT) with or without myocardial revascularization, with the aim to ascertain if revascularization in stable coronary artery disease (CAD) patients produce an incremental benefit.

• Using Scientific databases and websites, researchers retrieved data from 10 RCTs comprising 12,125 patients.

• No lower all-cause mortality (risk ratios, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.87–1.08), cardiovascular mortality (risk ratios, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.79–1.05) or myocardial infarction (MI) were recorded in correlation with receiving PCI added to OMT, as compared with OMT alone.

• However, receiving PCI in addition to OMT correlated with improved anginal symptoms and a lower risk for revascularization.