Role of EECP in Angina
The study demonstrated that 78% of patients had a reduction of ≥1 angina class, and 38% of patients had improvement of at least two classes. At least a 50% reduction in frequency of angina was experienced by 76% of patients as well as improvement in quality-of-life assessment that was sustained for at least 2-years.
A follow-up review in 2008 that followed 1061 patients from the International Institute of Cardiac Treatment who maintained significant improvements in both weekly anginal events and quality of life at 3-years following completion of EECP therapy, compared with data obtained 1-week post-therapy.
A 5-year, single-center, non-randomized study in 33 patients with coronary artery disease, treated with EECP and grouped as responders vs non-responders found that major adverse cardiovascular events or mortality occured in 6 of 7 patients (86%) in the non-responder group and 6 of 26 patients (23%) in the responder group.
12 The overall 5-year survival of EECP-treated patients was 88%, comparable to that seen with medical and revascularization therapies. At 5-years of follow-up, 64% of patients were alive without interim cardiovascular events or need for revascularization.