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Using more sensitive and frequent repeat testing of a blood test that indicates heart injury to guide the treatment of low-risk patients with symptoms of a possible heart attack resulted in patients being discharged earlier and receiving fewer cardiac stress tests but did not improve patient outcomes after one year, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology s 70th Annual Scientific Session. In fact, a subset of patients receiving this more sensitive and frequent blood testing protocol were more likely to have a heart attack or to die during the one-year follow-up period compared with patients whose treatment was informed by the results of conventional blood testing procedures.
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Clopidogrel outperformed aspirin in what is believed to be the first and largest randomized trial to compare the effectiveness of the two antiplatelet drugs as long-term maintenance therapy for patients who had no adverse events after one year of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) following the insertion of a coronary stent. After two years of follow-up, chronic maintenance therapy with clopidogrel resulted in a 30% reduction in deaths, heart attacks, strokes or major bleeding events, according to research presented at the American College of Cardiology s 70th Annual Scientific Session. These data confirm our working hypothesis that long-term maintenance antiplatelet monotherapy with clopidogrel produces better outcomes than aspirin in patients who are adverse event-free at one year after coronary stenting, said Hyo-Soo Kim, MD, PhD, professor of internal medicine at Seoul National University Hospital in South Korea and lead author of the study.
Among patients who had a cardiac stent inserted after a heart attack, switching to less-potent dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after 30 days was safer and more effective in preventing adverse events a year later than continuing on a high-potency DAPT regimen, according to data presented at the American College of Cardiology s 70th Annual Scientific Session.
The blood thinner apixaban was not superior to standard of care following transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), according to findings from a new trial called ATLANTIS presented at the American College of Cardiology s 70th Annual Scientific Session.
Patients at high risk for cardiovascular events who had the highest levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in their blood one year after taking daily omega-3 carboxylic acid, a prescription-grade fish oil, had similar rates of major cardiovascular events as people taking a corn oil placebo, according to a secondary analysis of the STRENGTH trial presented at the American College of Cardiology s 70th Annual Scientific Session.