Antiplatelet therapy in long-term risk reduction after myocardial infarction

The activated platelet is central to development of ischemic cardiovascular events. Guidelines recommend treatment with a P2Y12 receptor antagonist for 1-year after myocardial infarction (MI) to reduce the risk of recurrent events.  The PEGASUS trial sought to determine the impact of using the P2Y12 antagonist ticagrelor as part of long-term therapy after MI.  In this […]

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Dual Antiplatelet Therapy Beyond 1-year after Percutaneous Coronary Interventions for Stable Coronary Artery Disease Results in Harm  

The benefit of extended dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is uncertain. The ARTIC-Interruption Trial examined discontinuation of DAPT at 1-year after PCI vs continuation for an additional 6-18 months. The study randomized patients 1-year after PCI to continuation (N=635) or interruption (N=624) groups, and examined the primary composite endpoint of death, […]

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Stent type and interrupted anti-platelet therapy does not correlate with adverse events after non-cardiac surgeries

Guidelines recommend delaying elective surgery in patients with drug eluting stent (DES) for one year after stent implantation to allow completion of 1 year of dual anti-platelet therapy (DAPT) without interruption.  This recommendation is based on expert consensus and results in several clinical questions, including whether it is preferable to use a bare metal stent […]

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Smoking and antiplatelet agents – smoke and mirrors or something more?

Many antiplatelet therapies are prodrugs that require metabolic activation.  It has been hypothesized that smoking may activate this metabolic conversion for some antiplatelets (i.e. clopidogrel) more than others (i.e. prasugrel and ticagrelor).  In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the authors identified 9 randomized controlled trials of clopidogrel, prasugrel, or ticagrelor which examined outcomes among subgroups […]

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