Study Finds Heparin Plus Short-Term Tirofiban Similar to Bivalirudin in Safety and Efficacy for PCI

November 17, 2016—A recent study has shown that two short-term blood clot prevention medications, heparin plus short-term tirofiban and bivalirudin, are both safe and effective treatment options for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The results were presented on November 15 at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, Louisiana. An abstract on the study was published in Circulation.

Researchers from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah, studied patients who underwent successful elective PCI and evaluated which of the two short-term treatment methods was more effective. They found that the risk of major bleeding at 30 days, as well as the risk of death, heart attack, and urgent repeat PCI at 1 year, was low and not significantly different between the two treatment methods.

“Bivalirudin has been considered the gold standard for reducing bleeding during PCI, but our study shows heparin plus short-term tirofiban is just as good and possibly better,” commented J. Brent Muhlestein, MD, cardiologist at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute and lead author of the study. “The results certainly justify a randomized clinical trial to explore identified trends.”

The researchers found a small decrease in major bleeding and death with the use of heparin plus short-term tirofiban compared with bivalirudin alone. However, due to the overall low incidence of adverse events, the difference did not reach statistical significance. The 30-day incidence of TIMI major bleeding was 1.2% for patients treated with heparin and tirofiban and 3.1% for bivalirudin patients.