No increased mortality risk by restenosis, only by coronary artery disease itself

background: Data on long-term follow-up of patients developing coronary restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are scarce. To explore the relation of restenosis with long-term mortality, we analysed the 10-year survival data of the GENetic DEterminants of Restenosis (GENDER) study population. methods: GENDER was designed to study the genetic background of restenosis development after successful PCI. This multicentre prospective follow-up study had clinical restenosis within nine months as its primary endpoint. After this follow-up period, patients returned to usual clinical care. In total 3104 patients were included between March 1999 and June 2001 of which 304 developed restenosis. Long-term mortality data were obtained from the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics. As a control population, a random sample of 15,000 individuals, matched for age and gender, was extracted from the Dutch general population. results: Of the patients with restenosis, 86 (28.6%) died, which was similar to the 770 (27.7%) of the patients without restenosis, p = 0.28. Also no difference was observed for cardiovascular death (12.3% versus 11.4%, respectively, p = 0.64). When comparing the total GENDER population with the general population, a higher mortality rate was observed in the GENDER population, 27.8% versus 21.6%, P < 0.001. conclusion: The current study demonstrates that, in the long-term, patients suffering from restenosis do not have an increased mortality risk. However, this study population does have an increased mortality risk compared with the general population, indicating that it seems that there is still room to improve current treatment strategies for cardiovascular disease. 10-year follow-up of GENDER 149