Objective To evaluate the effect of homocysteine-lowering therapy on clinical outcome after percutaneous coronary intervention.
Design, Setting, and Participants Randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial involving 553 patients referred to the University Hospital in Bern, Switzerland, from May 1998 to April 1999 and enrolled after successful angioplasty of at least 1 significant coronary stenosis (
50%).
Intervention Participants were randomly assigned to receive a combination of folic acid (1 mg/d), vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin, 400 µg/d), and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride, 10 mg/d) (n = 272) or placebo (n = 281) for 6 months.
Main Outcome Measure Composite end point of major adverse events defined as death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and need for repeat revascularization, evaluated at 6 months and 1 year.
Results After a mean (SD) follow-up of 11 (3) months, the composite end point was significantly lower at 1 year in patients treated with homocysteine-lowering therapy (15.4% vs 22.8%; relative risk [RR], 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.48-0.96; P = .03), primarily due to a reduced rate of target lesion revascularization (9.9% vs 16.0%; RR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.40-0.97; P = .03). A nonsignificant trend was seen toward fewer deaths (1.5% vs 2.8%; RR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.16-1.70; P = .27) and nonfatal myocardial infarctions (2.6% vs 4.3%; RR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.24-1.51; P = .27) with homocysteine-lowering therapy. These findings remained unchanged after adjustment for potential confounders.
Conclusion Homocysteine-lowering therapy with folic acid, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6 significantly decreases the incidence of major adverse events after percutaneous coronary intervention.