Antiplatelet Therapy in Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Dual Antiplatelet Therapy Prior to Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Acute Coronary Syndrome: Prevalence and Outcomes in Contemporary Practice

BACKGROUND

Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is standard following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Preloading is the practice of administering both aspirin and a P2Y12 inhibitor before PCI. DAPT preloading is common practice, however clinical trial evidence demonstrating benefit is lacking.

AIMS

This study aimed to examine the prevalence and associated clinical outcomes of DAPT before PCI for ACS in a contemporary population of Australian patients.

METHODS

Data on consecutive PCI procedures from patients included in the Victorian Cardiac Outcomes Registry (VCOR) from 2014 to 2021 was collected and stratified by administration of DAPT before PCI versus single, or no, antiplatelet therapy.

RESULTS

In total, 42,453 consecutive PCI procedures for ACS were included. Of these, 33,520 (79%) patients were either preloaded or already on DAPT before PCI. Patients on DAPT were younger (63.9 vs. 65.1, p < 0.001) and generally had fewer comorbidities. Unadjusted outcomes were more favorable with pre-loading with lower in-hospital mortality with DAPT (2.6% vs. 5.6%, p < 0.001), and 30-day cardiovascular mortality (0.3% vs. 0.4%, p = 0.039). 30-day major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) (5.5% vs. 8.8%, p < 0.001) was similarly lower in the preloaded group. Major bleeding in hospital was less common in patients on DAPT (1.0% vs. 1.7%, p < 0.001). However, following adjustment for covariates, there was no difference in in-hospital or 30-day all-cause mortality, MACE or stent thrombosis between groups.

CONCLUSIONS

DAPT before PCI is common in ACS but not independently associated with improvements in in-hospital mortality, MACE, or stent thrombosis.

Lack of Racial Disparities in Cangrelor Therapy in Patients Presenting With Acute Coronary Syndrome Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

BACKGROUND

Cangrelor is an intravenous P2Y12 receptor antagonist that exerts rapid and potent antiplatelet effects. It is associated with a reduction in the indcidence of ischemic events in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

AIMS

The aim of our study was to investigate the racial disparities and their impact on outcomes among patients with ACS who were treated with cangrelor during PCI.

METHODS

We reviewed the data of patients with ACS who were treated with cangrelor during PCI at our center from 2018 to 2023 and divided between African American (AA) and Caucasian patients. The primary safety outcome was in-hospital thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) major bleeding. The primary efficacy outcome was in-hospital major adverse cardiac events (MACE), defined as a composite of cardiac death, MI, or stroke. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to assess the primary outcomes after controlling for differences in baseline characteristics.

RESULTS

The study included 1181 patients who received cangrelor during PCI for ACS, including 616 AA and 565 Caucasian patients. AA patients were significantly younger (61 ± 13 vs. 64 ± 12 years; p < 0.001) and had higher rates of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and end-stage renal disease requiring dialysis. There were no significant differences between AA and Caucasian patients regarding in-hospital TIMI major bleeding (odds ratio [OR]: 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.16-1.88; p = 0.343) and in-hospital MACE (OR: 1.82; 95% CI: 0.71-4.69; p = 0.212) after controlling for relevant baseline differences.

CONCLUSION

No racial disparities were observed with regard to the administration of cangrelor during PCI in patients presenting with ACS, and cangrelor was not associated with increased bleeding for AA patients as compared to Caucasian patients.

A network meta-analysis: evaluating the efficacy and safety of concurrent proton pump inhibitors and clopidogrel therapy in post-PCI patients

Introduction

The objective of this research was to evaluate the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) associated with the use of various proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in combination with clopidogrel in patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods

To accomplish this, we analyzed data from randomized controlled trials and retrospective cohort studies sourced from key electronic databases. These studies specifically examined the effects of different PPIs, such as lansoprazole, esomeprazole, omeprazole, rabeprazole, and pantoprazole, when used in conjunction with clopidogrel on MACEs. The primary focus was on the differential impact of these PPIs, while the secondary focus was on the comparison of gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding events in groups receiving different PPIs with clopidogrel vs. a placebo group. This study's protocol was officially registered with INPLASY (INPLASY2024-2-0009).

Results

We conducted a network meta-analysis involving 16 studies with a total of 145,999 patients. Our findings indicated that rabeprazole when combined with clopidogrel, had the lowest increase in MACE risk (effect size, 1.05, 95% CI: 0.66-1.66), while lansoprazole was associated with the highest risk increase (effect size, 1.48, 95% CI: 1.22-1.80). Esomeprazole (effect size, 1.28, 95% CI: 1.09-1.51), omeprazole (effect size, 1.23, 95% CI: 1.07-1.43), and pantoprazole (effect size, 1.38, 95% CI: 1.18-1.60) also significantly increased MACE risk. For the secondary outcome, esomeprazole (effect size, 0.30, 95% CI: 0.09-0.94), omeprazole (effect size, 0.34, 95% CI: 0.14-0.81), and pantoprazole (effect size, 0.33, 95% CI: 0.13-0.84) demonstrated an increased potential for GI bleeding prevention.

Conclusions

In conclusion, the combination of lansoprazole and clopidogrel was found to significantly elevate the risk of MACEs without offering GI protection in post-PCI patients. This study is the first network meta-analysis to identify the most effective regimen for the concurrent use of clopidogrel with individual PPIs.

Systematic Review Registration

https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2024-2-0009/, identifier (INPLASY2024-2-0009).

Flavonoids as potential anti-platelet aggregation agents: from biochemistry to health promoting abilities

Cardiovascular ailments are the number one cause of mortalities throughout the globe with 17.9 million deaths per year. Platelet activation and aggregation play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of arterial diseases, including acute coronary syndrome, acute myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular transient ischemia, unstable angina, among others. Flavonoids-rich plant extracts are gaining interest for treating the heart-related problems due to safe nature of these herbal extracts. Consumption of plant-food-derived bioactives, particularly flavonoids, has shown antithrombotic, and cardiovascular protective effects due to its anti-platelet activity. Preclinical and clinical trials have proven that flavonoid-rich plant extracts are protective against the cardiac ailments through anti-platelet aggregation activity. This review aims to highlight the anti-platelet aggregation potential of flavonoids with a key emphasis on the therapeutic efficacy in humans. The mechanism of flavonoids in preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases is also highlighted based on preclinical and clinical experimental trials. Further studies are the need of time for exploring the exact molecular mechanism of flavonoids as anti-platelet aggregation agents for treating heart-related problems.

Outcome at Six Months After Primary Percutaneous Coronary Interventions Performed at a Rural Satellite Center of Sindh Province of Pakistan

Introduction Primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is now a well-established treatment of acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). For the first time in Pakistan, various off-site satellite centers are established to perform PPCI 24-hours. Our population mainly resides in the rural area with low literacy rate and poor socioeconomic conditions. The majority of the patients who are presented in the satellite center had either never received any long-term treatment plan or were non-compliant to their medication. The objective of this study was to determine the outcome of patients at six months who underwent primary PCI at a rural satellite center of Sindh, Pakistan. Methods This study was conducted at Larkana satellite center of National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Karachi. Patients who underwent PPCI for STEMI from October 2017 to March 2018 were enrolled in the study. In case of death of the patient, data were obtained from the attendant of the deceased. Patients, on follow-up visits, were interrogated for post-procedure symptoms. Results A total of 271 patients were enrolled in the study. The mean age ± standard deviation of patients was 54.84 ± 10.64 years. The most common culprit artery was left anterior descending (LAD) artery with 161 (59.4%) patients, followed by right coronary artery (RCA) with 98 (36.2%) patients. Only 41 (15%) patients had a three-vessel disease, while 141 (52%) patients had single-vessel disease. On follow-up, 70 (25.8%) patients complained of chest pain grade II, 20 (7.4%) complained of shortness of breath (SOB) grade II, 44 (16.2%) complained of vertigo, and 16 (5.9%) complained of nonspecific weakness. The mortality rate of 6.3% (17) was observed after six months of PPCI. The mortality rate was found to be lower for patients with LAD disease (p = 0.036) and higher among patients with RCA as the culprit artery (p = 0.045). The mortality rate was significantly associated with the number of diseased vessels and the type of stent deployed. Conclusion Primary PCI, at a rural satellite center, has an overall positive outcome. Steps should be taken to provide free medication along with encouragement towards compliance of dual antiplatelet medication. Furthermore, the facility for subsequent procedures should be provided at the same set-up.

Bioactive peptides and proteins as alternative antiplatelet drugs

Antiplatelet drugs reduce the risks associated with atherothrombotic events and show various applications in diverse cardiovascular diseases including myocardial infarctions. Efficacy of the current antiplatelet medicines including aspirin, clopidogrel, prasugrel and ticagrelor, and the glycoprotein IIb/IIIa antagonists, are limited due to their increased risks of bleeding, and antiplatelet drug resistance. Hence, it is important to develop new effective antiplatelet drugs, with fewer side-effects. The vast repertoire of natural peptides can be explored towards this goal. Proteins and peptides derived from snake venoms and plants represent exciting candidates for the development of novel and potent antiplatelet agents. Consequently, this review discusses multiple peptides that have displayed antiplatelet aggregation activity in preclinical drug development stages. This review also describes the antiplatelet mechanisms of the peptides, emphasizing the signaling pathways intervened by them. Also, the hurdles encountered during the development of peptides into antiplatelet drugs have been listed. Finally, hitherto unexplored peptides with the potential to prevent platelet aggregation are explored.