Antiplatelet Tx preferred over anticoagulation
The combination of aspirin plus ticlopidine is preferable to aspirin plus oral anticoagulation following stent implantation for all patients regard-less of risk stratification, say researchers in the Multicenter Aspirin and Ticlopidine Trial after Intracoronary Stenting (MATTIS) study.1
The study results was already known to be true for low- and intermediate-risk patients, but now the recommendation to use combined antiplatelet therapy can be extended to all patients. The MAT-TIS researchers determined clinical outcomes 30 days following stenting in 350 high-risk patients randomized to either antiplatelet therapy or to aspirin and anticoagulation therapy administered within six hours of implantation. The team reports "treatment is greatly simplified by the use of an [aspirin plus ticlopidine] combination, duration of hospital stay is reduced, and bleeding and/or vas-cular complications are clearly less frequent than with [aspirin plus oral anticoagulation]."
Reference
1. Urban P, Macaya C, Rupprecht H, et al. Randomized evaluation of anticoagulation vs. antiplatelet therapy after coronary stent implantation in high-risk patients: The Multicenter Aspirin and Ticlopidine Trial after Intracoronary Stenting (MATTIS). Circulation 1998; 98:2,126-2,132.
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