Quality-of-Life Outcomes With Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery in Ischemic Left Ventricular Dysfunction

Failure) trial compared a strategy of routine coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with guideline-based medical therapy for patients with ischemic left ventricular dysfunction. Objective: To describe treatment-related quality-of-life (QOL) out-comes, a major prespecified secondary end point in the STICH trial. Design: Randomized trial. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00023595) Setting: 99 clinical sites in 22 countries. Patients: 1212 patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction of 0.35 or less and coronary artery disease. Intervention: Random assignment to medical therapy alone (602 patients) or medical therapy plus CABG (610 patients). Measurements: A battery of QOL instruments at baseline (98.9% complete) and 4, 12, 24, and 36 months after randomization (collection rates were 80 % to 89 % of those eligible). The principal prespecified QOL measure was the Kansas City Cardiomyopath