No-Option Patients
Despite the development of effective cardiovascular interventions, the number of Cardiovascular procedures continues to grow. This is due to the fact that Cardiovascular Disease is progressive and the effects of cardiovascular procedures is not permanent
There are more than 12 million patients with CAD in the US with 300,000 new cases of angina yearly. 5-12% of patients are not candidates for PTCA/CABG and 20-37% receive incomplete revascularization with these procedures, ??many of whom have residual angina. These are labeled "no-option patients".
Many of these patients have in fact options for percutaneous or surgical revascularization at specialized centers that offer more complex revascularization procedures and have the full armamentarium of investigational devices to treat them. If patients are not candidates for these procedures they have the option to be enrolled in Angiogenesis trials to grow new blood vessels to their heart or in drug trials to make the heart more energy efficient with its current blood supply.