Optimal Strategy for Antiplatelet Therapy After Coronary Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation in High-Risk "TWILIGHT-like" Patients With Diabetes Mellitus

Effect of dual antiplatelet therapy prolongation in acute coronary syndrome patients with both high ischemic and bleeding risk: insight from the OPT-CAD study

Background

In current clinical practice, controversy remains regarding the clinical benefits of prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients facing high risks of both ischemia and bleeding ("bi-risk") following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of identifying a group of bi-risk ACS patients after PCI using the OPT-BIRISK criteria, emphasizing extended DAPT treatment safety and efficacy beyond 12 months in these bi-risk ACS after PCI in real-world conditions.

Methods

This analysis compared extended DAPT and single antiplatelet therapy (SAPT) at 12-24 months in ACS patients undergoing PCI complicated with both ischemic and bleeding risk as defined by OPT-BIRISK criteria without premature DAPT discontinuation before 9 months or major clinical adverse events within 12 months. This was a post hoc analysis of the Optimal antiPlatelet Antiplatelet Therapy for Chinese Patients with Coronary Artery Disease (OPT-CAD) study. The main research outcome was the incidence of ischemic events within 12-24 months, which was determined as a composite of stroke, myocardial infarction, and cardiac death events. Through propensity score matching (PSM), groups were balanced. For the external validation of the OPT-BIRISK criteria to identify a bi-risk ACS patient, ischemic events, BARC 2, 3, 5 bleeding events, and BARC 3, 5 bleeding events at 5 years were analyzed.

Results

The total number of ACS patients analyzed in this analysis was 7,049, of whom 4,146 (58.8%) were bi-risk patients and 2,903 (41.2%) were not. The frequency of ischemic events was significantly different between the two groups at 5 years (11.70% vs. 5.55%, P < 0.001), and the incidence of BARC 2,3,5 bleeding was significantly higher in the bi-risk group (6.90% vs. 4.03%, P < 0.001) than in the non-bi-risk group. Among the bi-risk patients without any clinical adverse events within 12 months that underwent extended DAPT treatment (n = 2,374, 75.7%) exhibited a lower risk of stroke at 12-24 months (1.10% vs. 2.10%, P = 0.036) relative to those that underwent SAPT (n = 763, 24.3%), while bleeding risk did not differ significantly between these groups. PSM cohort analysis results were consistent with those of overall group analyses.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the findings showed that using the OPT-BIRISK criteria could help physicians identify ACS patients at a high risk of developing recurrent ischemia and bleeding episodes after PCI. Compared to antiplatelet monotherapy, a strategy of extended DAPT may offer potential benefits in lowering the risk of stroke without carrying a disproportionately high risk of serious bleeding problems among these patients who were event-free after a year of DAPT.

How Do Lipoprotein(a) Concentrations Affect Clinical Outcomes for Patients With Stable Coronary Artery Disease Who Underwent Different Dual Antiplatelet Therapy After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention?

Background

Lp(a) (lipoprotein[a]) plays an important role in predicting cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease through its proatherogenic and prothrombotic effects. We hypothesized that prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) might be beneficial for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention who had elevated Lp(a) levels. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Lp(a) on the efficacy and safety of prolonged DAPT versus shortened DAPT in stable patients with coronary artery disease who were treated with a drug‐eluting stent.

Methods and Results

We selected 3201 stable patients with CAD from the prospective Fuwai Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Registry, of which 2124 patients had Lp(a) ≤30 mg/dL, and 1077 patients had Lp(a) >30 mg/dL. Patients were divided into 4 groups according to Lp(a) levels and the duration of DAPT therapy (≤1 year versus >1 year). The primary end point was major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular event, defined as a composite of all‐cause death, myocardial infarction, or stroke. The median follow‐up time was 2.5 years. Among patients with elevated Lp(a) levels, DAPT >1 year presented lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular event and definite/probable stent thrombosis compared with DAPT ≤1 year. In contrast, in patients with normal Lp(a) levels, the risks of major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular event and definite/probable stent thrombosis were not significantly different between the DAPT >1 year and DAPT ≤1 year groups. Prolonged DAPT had 2.4‐times higher risk of clinically relevant bleeding than shortened DAPT in patients with normal Lp(a) levels, although without statistical difference.

Conclusions

In stable patients with coronary artery disease, who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with a drug‐eluting stent, prolonged DAPT was associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular events among those with elevated Lp(a) levels, whereas it did not show statistically significant evidence of benefit for reducing ischemic events and tended to increase clinically relevant bleeding among those with normal Lp(a) levels.

Benefit and Risk of Prolonged Dual Antiplatelet Therapy After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With Drug-Eluting Stents in Patients With Elevated Lipoprotein(a) Concentrations

Background: Lipoprotein(a) is positively related to cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Given that lipoprotein(a) has a prothrombotic effect, prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) might have a beneficial effect on reducing ischemic events in patients with elevated lipoprotein(a) levels after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We performed this study to assess the efficacy and safety of prolonged DAPT (>1 year) in this population.

Methods: We evaluated a total of 3,025 CAD patients with elevated lipoprotein(a) levels who were event-free at 1 year after PCI from the prospective Fuwai PCI Registry, of which 913 received DAPT ≤ 1 year and 2,112 received DAPT>1 year. The primary endpoint was major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular event (MACCE), defined as a composite of all-cause death, myocardial infarction or stroke.

Results: After a median follow-up of 2.4 years, patients who received DAPT>1 year were associated with lower risks of MACCE compared with DAPT ≤ 1 year (1.6 vs. 3.8%; hazard ratio [HR] 0.383, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.238–0.616), which was primarily driven by the lower all-cause mortality (0.2 vs. 2.3%; HR 0.078, 95% CI 0.027–0.227). In addition, DAPT>1 year was also associated with lower risks of cardiac death, and definite/probable stent thrombosis than those who received DAPT ≤ 1 year (P < 0.05). Conversely, no difference was found between the two groups in terms of clinically relevant bleeding. Similar results were observed in multivariate Cox regression analysis and inverse probability of treatment weighting analysis.

Conclusions: In patients with elevated lipoprotein(a) concentrations after PCI, prolonged DAPT (>1 year) reduced ischemic cardiovascular events, including MACCE, all-cause mortality, cardiac mortality, and definite/probable stent thrombosis, without increase in clinically relevant bleeding risk compared with ≤ 1-year DAPT. Lipoprotein(a) levels might be a new important consideration when deciding the duration of DAPT after PCI.