Clopidogrel and aspirin

Clopidogrel and aspirin

What is the optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy with clopidogrel and aspirin in patients with drug-eluting stents? In previous studies, early discontinuation of dual antiplatelet therapy has been identified as a risk factor for late stent thrombosis. A new study seeks to determine whether dual antiplatelet therapy for more than 1 year is of value. In a study that merged data from two concurrent randomized, clinical trials, 2701 patients who had received drug-eluding stents and had been free of major adverse cardiac events, cerebrovascular events, or major bleeding for a period of at least 12 months were randomized to receive clopidogrel plus aspirin or aspirin alone. The primary endpoint was a composite of myocardial infarction (MI) or death from cardiac causes. The cumulative risk of the primary outcome at 2 years was 1.8% with dual antiplatelet therapy as compared with 1.2% with aspirin monotherapy (hazard ratio, 1.65; 95% confidence interval, 0.80-3.36; P = 0.17). The individual risks of MI, stroke, stent thrombosis, need for repeat revascularization, major bleeding, and death did not differ significantly between the two groups. However, there was a trend toward higher risk for these outcomes in the dual therapy group (P = 0.051 for MI, stroke, or death from any cause; P = 0.06 for MI, stroke, or death from cardiac cause). The authors conclude that use of dual antiplatelet therapy for longer than 12 months is not more effective than aspirin alone in patients who have received drug-eluding stents (N Engl J Med 2010;362:1374-1382).