Future Revascularization Evaluation in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus: Optimal Management of Multivessel Disease (FREEDOM)

For CABG, participants will receive general anesthesia and will have a breathing tube placed in their throat and they will be unconscious during the operation. An incision is made through the chest bone and muscle, which allows the surgeon access to the heart and diseased vessels. The surgeon will use one or more healthy vessels (either from an artery in the shoulder or a vein in the leg) and will bypass the diseased vessel with the healthy vessel(s). This bypass will provide needed blood supply to the heart.

For PCI, the participant will have two or more drug-eluting stents permanently implanted in their clogged arteries. Drug-eluting stents are coated with a drug that may prevent the disease in the vessel from coming back. The brand names of the stents used in this study are TAXUS and CYPHER. The participant will receive a local anesthetic. A small puncture will be made and a balloon-tipped catheter is introduced through the small puncture in the leg/arm and advanced through the artery to the diseased heart vessel. The balloon is then inflated to enlarge the opening in the vessel. After enlarging the vessel, the drug-eluting stent will be placed using a similar balloon catheter. This balloon will be inflated, expanding the stent and placing it in the diseased vessel. Once the stent is fully expanded, the balloon is deflated and removed, leaving the stent in place in the artery.