Dual Antiplatelet Therapy After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With Stent Implantation in Patients Taking Chronic Oral Anticoagulation

Objectives The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety of dual antiplatelet therapy in patients in whom long-term anticoagulation (AC) with warfarin is recommended. Background The optimal antithrombotic strategy after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for patients receiving AC is unclear. Methods Consecutive patients who underwent stent implantation and were discharged on triple therapy (defined as the combination of aspirin and thienopyridines and AC) were analyzed. Results Of the 127 patients with 224 lesions, 86.6% were men, with a mean age of 69.9 ± 8.8 years. Drug-eluting stents (DES) were positioned in 71 (55.9%), and bare-metal stents (BMS) were positioned in 56 (44.1%) patients. Atrial fibrillation (AF) was the main indication (59.1%) for AC treatment. The mean triple therapy duration was 5.6 ± 4.6 months, and clinical follow-up was 21.0 ± 19.8 months. During the triple therapy period, 6 patients (4.7%) developed major bleeding complications; 67% occurred within the first month. No significant differences between DES and BMS were observed in the incidence of major (5.6% vs. 3.6%, respectively, p = 1.0) and minor (1.4% vs. 3.6%, respectively, p = 0.57) bleeding and mortality (5.6% vs. 1.8%, respectively, p = 0.39). A significant difference was observed in favor of DES in target vessel revascularization (14.1% vs. 26.8%, p = 0.041). Conclusions While receiving triple therapy, major bleeding occurred in 4.7% of patients; one-half of the events were lethal, and most occurred within the first month.