Although the benefit of percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) for patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) has been established in numerous studies, the role of PCI in stable coronary artery disease (CAD) remains controversial. With the publication of the Clinical Outcomes Utilizing Revascularization and Aggressive Drug Evaluations trial and the appropriate use criteria for coronary artery revascularization, we sought to examine the impact of these treatment strategies and guidelines on the current practice of PCI in United States. We conducted a serial cross-sectional study with time trends of patients undergoing PCI for ACS and stable CAD from 2007 to 2011. The annual rate of all PCI decreased by 27.7% from 10,785 procedures per million adults per year in 2007 to 2008 to 7,801 procedures per million adults per year in 2010 to 2011 (p=0.03). Although there was no statistically significant decrease in the PCI utilization for ACS from 2007 to 2011, PCI utilization for stable CAD decreased by 51.7% (from 2,056 procedures per million adults per year in 2008 to 992 procedures per million adults per year in 2011, p=0.02). Hospitals with a higher volume of PCI experienced a more significant decrease. Decrease in PCI utilization for stable CAD was statistically significant for patients with Medicare and private insurance/health maintenance organization (44.5%, p=0.03 and 59.5%, p=0.007, respectively). In conclusion, the rate of PCI decreased substantially starting from 2009 in the United States. Most of the decrease was attributed to the reduction in PCI utilization for stable CAD.
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