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Aleksova N, Brahmbhatt DH, Kiamanesh O, Petropoulos JA, Chang Y, Guyatt G, Chih S, Ross HJ. The effect of antiplatelet therapy on survival and cardiac allograft vasculopathy following heart transplantation: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Transplant 2020; 35:e14125. [PMID: 33068308 DOI: 10.1111/ctr.14125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Revised: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 10/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) is mediated by endothelial inflammation, platelet activation and thrombosis. Antiplatelet therapy may prevent the development of CAV. This systematic review and meta-analysis summarizes and appraises the evidence on the effect of antiplatelet therapy after heart transplantation (HT). CENTRAL(Ovid), MEDLINE(Ovid), Embase(Ovid) were searched from inception until April 30, 2020. Outcomes included CAV, all-cause mortality, and CAV-related mortality. Data were pooled using random-effects models. Seven observational studies including 2023 patients, mean age 52 years, 22% female, 47% with ischemic cardiomyopathy followed over a mean 7.1 years proved eligible. All studies compared acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) to no treatment and were at serious risk of bias. Data from 1911 patients in 6 studies were pooled in the meta-analyses. The evidence is very uncertain about the effect of ASA on all-cause or CAV-related mortality. ASA may reduce the development of CAV (RR 0.75, 95% CI: 0.44-1.29) based on very low certainty evidence. Two studies that conducted propensity-weighted analyses showed further reduction in CAV with ASA (HR 0.31, 95% CI: 0.13-0.74). In conclusion, there is limited evidence that ASA may reduce the development of CAV. Definitive resolution of the impact of antiplatelet therapy on CAV and mortality will require randomized clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natasha Aleksova
- Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Darshan H Brahmbhatt
- Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.,National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Omid Kiamanesh
- Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.,Division of Cardiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | | | - Yaping Chang
- Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Gordon Guyatt
- Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
| | - Sharon Chih
- University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Heather J Ross
- Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
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