Angina Severity, Depression, and Response to Percutaneous Revascularization in Patients With Chronic Total Occlusion of Coronary Arteries.

Objectives: This study sought to quantify depression rates in patients referred for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for chronic total occlusion (CTO), assess its relationship to baseline angina symptoms, and compare angina improvement after CTO-PCI between depressed and non-depressed patients.

Background: Depression is common among patients with chronic angina, and portends poor prognosis. CTOs are a common cause of angina. The relationships between angina, depression, and CTO intervention are unknown.

Methods: We collected baseline and 30-day post-PCI data on angina (Seattle Angina Questionnaire [SAQ7]), dyspnea (Rose Dyspnea Scale [RDS]), and depression status (Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-2]) on 45 consecutive patients referred for CTO-PCI between October 2013 and October 2014.

Results: Depression (PHQ-2 score ≥3) was present in 18/45 patients (40%) at baseline. Baseline SAQ7 Summary and SAQ7 Angina Frequency scores for depressed patients were 35.4 (range, 28.4-42.4) and 54.4 (range, 43.0-65.8), compared with 67.3 (range, 57.5-77.1) and 77.8 (range, 68.5-87.1) for non-depressed patients (P<.001 and P=.01, respectively). Following CTO-PCI, the mean improvement in SAQ7 Summary and SAQ7 Angina Frequency scores was 48.5 (range, 35.4-61.5) and 32.8 (range, 21.0-44.5) for patients with depression, compared with 16.5 (range, 5.87-27.2) and 12.6 (range, 3.0-22.2) for patients without depression (P<.001 and P=.01, respectively). Following PCI, the presence of depression was reduced (72% relative reduction vs. baseline; P=.01).

Conclusions: Depression identifies patients more limited by angina and more likely to respond to CTO-PCI compared with non-depressed patients. Depression screening may be indicated for patients with CTO, as 67% of CTO patients were not receiving treatment for depression.