Efficacy of triple anti-platelet therapy including cilostazol in acute myocardial infarction patients undergoing drug-eluting stent implantation.
OBJECTIVE
Triple anti-platelet therapy is known to prevent restenosis after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation. However, there is little available data concerning the efficacy of triple anti-platelet therapy for acute myocardial infarction (AMI).


METHODS
We analyzed 528 consecutive patients with AMI undergoing DES implantation between Nov 2005 and Apr 2008. We compared clinical outcomes in the triple anti-platelet therapy (group I, n=413: cilostazol combined with aspirin and clopidogrel for at least one month) and dual antiplatelet therapy groups (group II, n=115: aspirin and clopidogrel).


RESULTS
There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics. However, ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and use of TAXUS(R) stents were more common (70.9% vs. 55.7%, p=0.002; 83.5% vs. 73.0%, p=0.011) in Group I. Group I had lower incidences of cardiac death, 6-month target lesion revascularization (TLR), and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) compared to Group II (1.7% vs. 5.7%, p=0.022; 5.7% vs. 11.5%, 0.035; 7.9% vs. 16.0%, p=0.011). On subgroup analysis, the incidence of 6-month TLR was lower among patients with American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) B2 or C lesions and non-STEMI (6.0% vs. 14.9%, p=0.012; 4.3% vs. 19.1%, p=0.002) in Group I compared to those in Group II. The rates of bleeding complications were no different between the two groups. On multivariate analysis, Killip III or IV and triple anti-platelet therapy were independent predictors of 6-month MACCE {hazard ratio (HR)=3.382; 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.384-8.262, HR=0.436; 95% CI=0.203-0.933}.


CONCLUSIONS
Triple anti-platelet therapy is safe and efficacious, and it prevents TLR in patients with AMI, especially those with complex lesions and non-STEMIs.
Park
Keun-Ho
KH
The Heart Center of Chonnam National University Hospital, Cardiovascular Research Institute of Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Korea.
Jeong
Myung Ho
MH
Lee
Min Goo
MG
Ko
Jum Suk
JS
Lee
Shin Eun
SE
Kang
Won Yu
WY
Kim
Soo Hyun
SH
Sim
Doo Sun
DS
Yoon
Nam Sik
NS
Youn
Hyun Ju
HJ
Hong
Young Joon
YJ
Park
Hyung Wook
HW
Kim
Ju Han
JH
Ahn
Youngkeun
Y
Cho
Jeong Gwan
JG
Park
Jong Chun
JC
Kang
Jung Chaee
JC