Impact of triple antithrombotic therapy in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention in real-world practice

Objective The optimal antithrombotic regimen for patients on oral anticoagulation （OAC） after acute coronary syndrome （ACS） and percutaneous coronary intervention （PCI） remains debated. This study sought to evaluate the efficacy and safety of OAC plus clopidogrel with or without aspirin in a real-world setting. Methods We retrospectively analyzed data from an international, multi-center registry be- tween 2003 and 2014 （n = 15,401）. Patients with ACS and receiving OAC after PCI were screened. The composite primary endpoint was 1-year all-cause death, re-infarction, or severe bleeding. Results The final analysis enrolled 642 patients including 62 patients （9.7%） with OAC and clopidogrel （dual therapy）, and 580 patients （90.3%） with the combination of aspirin, OAC and clopidogrel （triple therapy）. Pa- tients on triple therapy were more often female and were more likely to have comorbidities. There was no significant difference regarding the primary end point between dual therapy with triple therapy patients [17.74% vs. 17.24%; unadjusted hazard ratio （HR）： 1.035; 95% confi- dence interval （CI）： 0.556-1.929; adjusted HR： 1.026; 95% CI： 0.544-1.937]. However, the re-infarction rate was significantly higher in dual therapy than triple therapy patients （14.52% vs. 5.34%; unadjusted HR： 2.807; 95% CI： 1.329-5.928; adjusted HR： 2.333; 95% CI： 1.078-5.047）. In addition, there was no difference between two regimes in all-cause death and severe bleeding. Conclusions In real-life patients with ACS following PCI and with an indication of OAC, triple therapy was not associated with an increased rate of adverse out- comes compared to dual therapy. Moreover, it decreased risk of re-infarction and did not increase risk of severe bleeding.

Triple antithrombotic therapy versus double antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention with stent implantation in patients requiring chronic oral anticoagulation： a meta-analysis

Background Whether an addition of OAC to double antiplatelet therapy for patients with an indication of chronic oral anticoagulation undergoing PCI-S may improve clinical outcomes is still debated. This meta-analysis aimed to update and re-compare the benefits and risks of triple antithrombotic therapy （TT） with double anti-platelet therapy （DAPT） after in patients who requiring oral anticoagulation after percutaneous coronary interventions with stenting （PCI-s）. Methods Ten reports of observational retrospective or prospective studies were retrieved, including a total of 6296 patients, follow-up period ranging from 1 year to 2 years. Results Baseline characteristics were similar in both groups. The main finding of this study is the overall incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events （MACE）, myocardial infarction （MI） and stent thrombosis was comparable between two groups. Patients with TT was associated with significant reduction in ischemic stroke （OR： 0.27; 95% CI： 0.13-0.57; P=0.0006） as compared to DAPT. We reaffirmed triple therapy significantly increased the risk of major bleeding （OR： 1.47; 95% CI： 1.22-1.78; P 〈0.0001） and minor bleeding （OR： 1.55; 95% CI： 1.07-2.24; P=-0.02）. Conclusions Triple therapy is more efficacious in reducing the occurrence of ischemic stroke in PCI-s patients with an indication of chronic oral anticoagulation （OAC）, compared with DAPT. However, it significantly increased major and minor risk of bleeding. It is imperative that further prospective randomized controlled trials are required to define the best therapeutic strateav for patients with an indication of chronic OAC underaoina PCI-s.