Most studies indicated that low on-treatment platelet reactivity ( LTPR ) , as measured by several platelet function tests , and the carriage of CYP2C19 * 17 allele were independent risk factors for bleeding .
A bleeding score also proved to be helpful in identifying patients at risk .
Several patient characteristics were also identified as independent predictors of bleeding , such as older age , female sex and renal failure .
Patients with coronary artery disease are usually treated with dual antiplatelet therapy ( DAPT ) after percutaneous coronary intervention .
Patients on DAPT are at risk of both ischaemic and bleeding events .
Although side-lined for a long time , real-life studies have shown that both the incidence and the associated morbidity and mortality of out-of-hospital bleeding are high .
This indicates that prevention of ( post-interventional ) bleeding is as important as prevention of ischaemia .
For this purpose it is crucial to reliably identify patients with a high bleeding risk .
In order to postulate an algorithm , which could help identifying these patients , we performed a systematic review to determine the value of previously proposed prognostic modalities for bleeding .
Prasugrel versus clopidogrel in patients with acute coronary syndromes.
BACKGROUND Dual-antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and a thienopyridine is a cornerstone of treatment to prevent thrombotic complications of acute coronary syndromes and percutaneous coronary intervention . METHODS To compare prasugrel , a new thienopyridine , with clopidogrel , we r and omly assigned 13,608 patients with moderate-to-high-risk acute coronary syndromes with scheduled percutaneous coronary intervention to receive prasugrel ( a 60-mg loading dose and a 10-mg daily maintenance dose ) or clopidogrel ( a 300-mg loading dose and a 75-mg daily maintenance dose ) , for 6 to 15 months . The primary efficacy end point was death from cardiovascular causes , nonfatal myocardial infa rct ion , or nonfatal stroke . The key safety end point was major bleeding . RESULTS The primary efficacy end point occurred in 12.1 % of patients receiving clopidogrel and 9.9 % of patients receiving prasugrel ( hazard ratio for prasugrel vs. clopidogrel , 0.81 ; 95 % confidence interval [ CI ] , 0.73 to 0.90 ; P<0.001 ) . We also found significant reductions in the prasugrel group in the rates of myocardial infa rct ion ( 9.7 % for clopidogrel vs. 7.4 % for prasugrel ; P<0.001 ) , urgent target-vessel revascularization ( 3.7 % vs. 2.5 % ; P<0.001 ) , and stent thrombosis ( 2.4 % vs. 1.1 % ; P<0.001 ) . Major bleeding was observed in 2.4 % of patients receiving prasugrel and in 1.8 % of patients receiving clopidogrel ( hazard ratio , 1.32 ; 95 % CI , 1.03 to 1.68 ; P=0.03 ) . Also greater in the prasugrel group was the rate of life-threatening bleeding ( 1.4 % vs. 0.9 % ; P=0.01 ) , including nonfatal bleeding ( 1.1 % vs. 0.9 % ; hazard ratio , 1.25 ; P=0.23 ) and fatal bleeding ( 0.4 % vs. 0.1 % ; P=0.002 ) . CONCLUSIONS In patients with acute coronary syndromes with scheduled percutaneous coronary intervention , prasugrel therapy was associated with significantly reduced rates of ischemic events , including stent thrombosis , but with an increased risk of major bleeding , including fatal bleeding . Overall mortality did not differ significantly between treatment groups . ( Clinical Trials.gov number , NCT00097591 [ Clinical Trials.gov ] .
Most studies indicated that low on-treatment platelet reactivity ( LTPR ) , as measured by several platelet function tests , and the carriage of CYP2C19 * 17 allele were independent risk factors for bleeding .
A bleeding score also proved to be helpful in identifying patients at risk .
Several patient characteristics were also identified as independent predictors of bleeding , such as older age , female sex and renal failure .
Patients with coronary artery disease are usually treated with dual antiplatelet therapy ( DAPT ) after percutaneous coronary intervention .
Patients on DAPT are at risk of both ischaemic and bleeding events .
Although side-lined for a long time , real-life studies have shown that both the incidence and the associated morbidity and mortality of out-of-hospital bleeding are high .
This indicates that prevention of ( post-interventional ) bleeding is as important as prevention of ischaemia .
For this purpose it is crucial to reliably identify patients with a high bleeding risk .
In order to postulate an algorithm , which could help identifying these patients , we performed a systematic review to determine the value of previously proposed prognostic modalities for bleeding .