03 Aug After Angioplasty: Quit Smoking, Live Longer

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. R.T. van Domburg

Clinical epidemiologist, Associate Professor
Erasmus Medical Center
Department of Cardiology Ba561
‘s-Gravendijkwal 230 3015 CE Rotterdam

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of your study?

Answer: We collected data from the first patients who underwent coronary angioplasty in the early 1980s and followed them for 25 to 30 years.

We found that patients who were able to quit smoking in the year following their PCI lived on average more than two years longer than those who continued to smoke.

MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?

Answer: The main findings were not that unexpected because we found more or less the same findings in patients after coronary bypass surgery (Three life-years gained from smoking cessation after coronary artery bypass surgery: a 30-year follow-up study.
Am Heart J 2008;156:473-6)

MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from this report?

Answer: Most people start smoking in their youth and have a smoking history of 40-50 years. Most patients think it is too late to quit smoking, but the major message of our study is that it is never too late to stop smoking.

Treating physicians have a very simple message to tell their patients: “Even if you’re not willing to stop smoking yourself, do it for your grandchildren. They can enjoy their grandparents for an additional two years.”

Citaton:

Life-Years Gained by Smoking Cessation After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Sanneke P.M. de Boer, Patrick W.J.C. Serruys, Gideon Valstar, Mattie J. Lenzen, Peter J. de Jaegere, Felix Zijlstra, Eric Boersma, Ron T. van Domburg, interventional cardiologists of the Thoraxcentre 1980 to 1985

American Journal of Cardiology – 29 July 2013 (10.1016/j.amjcard.2013.05.075)

Last Updated on October 21, 2015 by Marie Benz MD FAAD