The clinical benefits of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for chronic total occlusion (CTO) remain controversial. This study aimed to investigate whether PCI for CTO located in the left anterior descending artery (LAD) could have beneficial effects on clinical outcomes.

Patients were retrospectively selected from a single-center CTO registry and followed up for approximately 10 years. The patients were grouped based on the presence of LAD CTO and whether the CTO was revascularized. Inverse probability weighting adjustment was also performed. The primary outcome was the composite of cardiac death or myocardial infarction at 10 years.

Among 1323 patients with CTO, 1034 were male, and 417 had LAD CTO. PCI was attempted in 72.2% of participants in the LAD CTO group and in 49.9% of those in the non-LAD CTO group. In the non-LAD CTO group, PCI did not significantly affect the primary outcome (medical therapy vs PCI, 20.7% vs 13.4%, adjusted HR: 0.72, 95%CI, 0.47–1.10; P=.13). However, a significant difference in the incidence of the primary outcome between the treatment methods was observed in the LAD CTO group (30.8% vs 15.4%; adjusted HR: 0.44; 95%CI, 0.25-0.81; P=.007). A significant interaction was observed between LAD CTO and treatment method (P for interaction=.011).

The benefits of PCI compared with medical therapy for CTO might be more apparent when the CTO is located in the LAD.