Prasugrel & Clopidogrel – No Significant Difference In Preventing CVD, Stroke And Death

The initial trial to study affected individuals with acute coronary syndrome who don't carry out coronary stenting or bypass surgery found no large dissimilarity between a couple of anti-clotting drugs - prasugrel and clopidogrel - in stopping the very first incidence of death, heart attack or stroke, based on Duke University Medical Center cardiologists.

Simultaneously, the Duke researchers viewed an unexpected lowering of heart attack, stroke and death among affected individuals handled along with prasurgrel beyond one year of therapy. The scientists say this possible time-dependent benefit needs further investigation.

The outcomes were introduced by the Duke researchers at the European Society of Cardiology Scientific Sessions in Munich, Germany in these days, and published online in New England Journal of Medicine.

"If you come across this research as an evaluation of a couple of drugs, it does not have to tell the entire story," says E. Magnus Ohman, M.D., a professor of medicine at Duke and chairman of the TRILOGY ACS study.

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) refers to a collection of conditions with heart attacks and chest pain attributable to clogged coronary arteries. To this point, most trials understanding anti-clotting drugs for ACS affected individuals have focused on affected individuals who withstand revascularization procedures an example would be stent implantation with percutaneous coronary treatment and coronary artery bypass operations to revive blood flow.

Up to 60 percent of ACS affected individuals internationally withstand revascularization procedures based on published data. The remaining 40 percentage are handled solely with drug session. All of these affected individuals are at higher risk for recurring cardiovascular-related events, inclusive of heart attack, stroke, and death.

Following a median of 17 months of follow up, the leading end point - considered the time to first prevalence of death, heart attack or stroke - took place in 13.9 percent of affected individuals under age 75 years vs. 16.0 percent patients treated with clopidogrel. This is viewed as a non-significant dissimilarity.

However, a lower risk of regular adverse effects with prasugrel was viewed after 12 months of therapy. "This finding has not been found in previous studies like TRITON that evaluated a shorter period of therapy," said Dr. Ohman. "We believe further investigation of this uncovering is required."