The Hospital del Mar has advanced in the cardiovascular field by participating in an influential international study that questions the ongoing use of aspirin after an angioplasty for a myocardial infarction. Published in the renowned New England Journal of Medicine, the study suggests that treatment with a single antiplatelet agent is sufficient, forgoing aspirin one month after the procedure.
The innovative study involved forty European hospitals and analyzed data from nearly 2,000 patients, divided into two groups. A group followed the traditional treatment that combines aspirin with one of the three recommended antiplatelet agents: clopidogrel, ticagrelor, or prasugrel. The other group received only one of these antiplatelet agents, mainly prasugrel.
The female doctor. Beatriz Vaquerizo, head of the Cardiology Service at Hospital del Mar and participant in the research, stressed that the results show that using a single, more potent antiplatelet agent is equally effective. "Treatment with a single, more potent antiplatelet agent may be sufficient for these patients after completing a month of combination therapy with aspirin," he said.
The analysis revealed a low incidence of hemorrhages and no further adverse cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events were recorded in the group that did not use aspirin. These conclusions suggest the possibility of adjusting treatment guidelines, minimizing the risk of post-intervention hemorrhagic complications. If adopted, this approach could transform the clinical management of numerous patients who undergo this cardiovascular surgery.
