European doctors compared the effectiveness of open-heart surgery versus angioplasty (tiny mesh tubes used to keep narrowed arteries open in order to release drugs that help prevent blood vessels from reclogging) in a trial of more than 3,000 patients in Europe and the United States and presented their conclusions Monday at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Munich.

The study showed that after one year, 17.8% of the patients fitted with stents died, suffered a stroke, heart attack or needed repeat procedure, compared with 12.1% of those who had bypass surgery. Heinz Drexel, professor of medicine at Innsbruck University, Austria, and a spokesman for the European Society of Cardiology, said patients who are eligible to undergo bypass surgery should opt for this procedure.

Only a third of the patients had medical conditions that required surgery. The others were assigned to receive either bypass surgery or angioplasty. The study was called the SYNTAX study and it lasted for a year. The paradox is that the study was paid for by Boston Scientific, makers of heart stents.

But according to Reuters, Keith Dawkins, Associate Chief Medical Officer at Boston Scientific said that although the study missed its actual target, stents remain just as safe.

"The primary endpoint was missed. But it wasn't missed because of safety concerns; it was missed due to revascularization (reopening of arteries)," he said. In patients who had an angioplasty, nearly 14 percent needed another procedure after a year, compared with about 6 percent of surgery patients. On the other hand patients who had surgery had about a 2 percent stroke risk comparing to the almost zero risk for patients who had an angioplasty.