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Management of Anticoagulation in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Undergoing PCI: Double or Triple Therapy?

  • Invasive Electrophysiology and Pacing (EK Heist, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

This review aims to discuss the use of antithrombotic therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation who undergo coronary stenting with emphasis on the use of double vs triple therapy.

Recent Findings

When combined with systemic anticoagulation, dual antiplatelet therapy results in an unacceptable increase in bleeding without any improvement in prevention of thrombotic events. Direct oral anticoagulants combined with single antiplatelet therapy have reduced bleeding compared with warfarin plus dual antiplatelet therapy. Triple anticoagulation therapy with warfarin or direct oral anticoagulants leads to an excess of bleeding and is not superior in preventing thrombotic events.

Summary

Recent randomized, controlled trials have shown a significant reduction in major bleeding events in patients treated with dual antithrombotic therapy compared with triple therapy without any difference in efficacy. These findings call into question whether triple therapy should remain a part of standard practice.

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  1. Brigham and Women’s Hospital Heart and Vascular Center, Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Benjamin E. Peterson & Deepak L. Bhatt

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Correspondence to Deepak L. Bhatt.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Benjamin E. Peterson declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt discloses the following relationships:

Advisory Board: Cardax, Elsevier (Practice Update Cardiology), Medscape Cardiology, Regado Biosciences. Board of Directors: Boston VA Research Institute, Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care, TobeSoft.

Chair: American Heart Association Quality Oversight Committee. Data Monitoring Committees: Baim Institute for Clinical Research (formerly Harvard Clinical Research Institute, for the PORTICO trial, funded by St. Jude Medical, now Abbott), Cleveland Clinic, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Mayo Clinic, Mount Sinai School of Medicine (for the ENVISAGE trial, funded by Daiichi Sankyo), Population Health Research Institute.

Honoraria: American College of Cardiology (Senior Associate Editor, Clinical Trials and News, ACC.org; Vice-Chair, ACC Accreditation Committee), Baim Institute for Clinical Research (formerly Harvard Clinical Research Institute; RE-DUAL PCI clinical trial steering committee funded by Boehringer Ingelheim), Belvoir Publications (Editor in Chief, Harvard Heart Letter), Duke Clinical Research Institute (clinical trial steering committees), HMP Global (Editor in Chief, Journal of Invasive Cardiology), Journal of the American College of Cardiology (Guest Editor; Associate Editor), Population Health Research Institute (for the COMPASS operations committee, publications committee, steering committee, and USA national co-leader, funded by Bayer), Slack Publications (Chief Medical Editor, Cardiology Today’s Intervention), Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care (Secretary/Treasurer), WebMD (CME steering committees).

Other: Clinical Cardiology (Deputy Editor), NCDR-ACTION Registry Steering Committee (Chair), VA CART Research and Publications Committee (Chair).

Research Funding: Abbott, Amarin, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chiesi, Eisai, Ethicon, Forest Laboratories, Idorsia, Ironwood, Ischemix, Lilly, Medtronic, PhaseBio, Pfizer, Regeneron, Roche, Sanofi Aventis, Synaptic, The Medicines Company.

Royalties: Elsevier (Editor, Cardiovascular Intervention: A Companion to Braunwald’s Heart Disease); Site Co-Investigator: Biotronik, Boston Scientific, St. Jude Medical (now Abbott), Svelte; Trustee: American College of Cardiology; Unfunded Research: FlowCo, Merck, PLx Pharma, Takeda.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Peterson, B.E., Bhatt, D.L. Management of Anticoagulation in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation Undergoing PCI: Double or Triple Therapy?. Curr Cardiol Rep 20, 110 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-018-1045-0

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