A new study suggests that the high cost of angioplasty doesn’t seem to justify the marginal benefit.

Reporting at the American Heart Association’s annual scientific sessions in New Orleans, the researchers told that adding angioplasty to optimal medical therapy could improve angina-related symptoms in some patients, but at a very high cost.

Dr Sidney Smith, chairman of the AHA says: “It’s an important trial, but the cost is important too and we find that the use of stents and additional angina related to that was expensive.”

However, it doesn’t mean that the procedure shouldn’t be performed.

“Cost must not be a barricade, but to do things in a better way, it should be an incentive by targeting the population or by making it a less expensive procedure. Definitely we need to find a way to fix the cost.” Smith added.

Previous study suggests that interventional procedures to re-open coronary arteries after blockage do not actually decrease the occurrence ofcardiovascular events more than medication alone.

In that trial (known as COURAGE), the researchers compared added angioplasty to best medical therapy and lifestyles interventions  to medical therapy alone to decrease the risk of dying or aheart attack. The researchers found only a slight difference between these two.