PHILADELPHIA — In stable patients with moderate or severe ischemia, an invasive strategy and a conservative strategy of optimal medical therapy yielded similar long-term CV outcomes, according to long-anticipated results of the ISCHEMIA and ISCHEMIA-CKD trials presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.

However, in the main ISCHEMIA trial, which excluded patients with renal disease, an invasive strategy was associated with improvements in angina control and quality of life in patients with angina compared with a conservative strategy. In patients without angina, the improvements in angina control and quality of life associated with an invasive strategy were minimal. In ISCHEMIA-CKD, which included only of patients with chronic kidney disease, results showed no difference in quality of life outcomes between the strategies.