Routine functional testing in high-risk but asymptomatic patients after percutaneous coronary intervention is no more beneficial than standard care alone, cardiologists have confirmed.

New research suggests that stress testing not only fails to improve clinical outcomes but could also lead to more frequent coronary angiography and repeat revascularisation.

South Korean doctors say their study results, presented at the European Society of Cardiology annual congress in Barcelona last month and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine, back a ‘less is more’ approach to managing such patients.

“Our trial does not support active surveillance with routine functional testing for the follow-up strategy in high-risk patients who undergo [percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)],” lead author Dr Duk-Woo Park, from Asan Medical Center in Seoul, told attendees.