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Clinical pharmacology of antithrombotic drugs in coronary artery disease
Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical Faculty, Technical University Dresden, Germany
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: joachim.fauler{at}tu-dresden.de.
Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the Western world. Antithrombotic therapy is the cornerstone of its successful treatment. Clinical trials have demonstrated that antithrombotic therapy reduces the risk for recurrent myocardial infarction and cardiovascular death. Antiplatelet drugs and anticoagulants interfere with haemostasis and thus bleeding is a major risk factor of these drugs. The benefit of antithrombotic therapy must therefore be carefully balanced with the risk of bleeding and other potential adverse reactions of these drugs. However, to date there is no firm evidence that dosage adaptation of aspirin or clopidogrel according to platelet aggregation testing translates directly into any clinical benefit. Resistance to antithrombotic drugs is a serious problem because these patients are at a higher risk of myocardial infarction, stroke and cardiovascular death. It has most recently been demonstrated that resistance to clopidogrel is at least in part caused by polymorphism of CYP2C19. Clinical trials have also demonstrated that optimal benefit in different settings depends unequivocally on the meticulous choice of the various drugs. Thus, profound knowledge of the clinical pharmacological profiles of the different antithrombotic drugs is indispensable for successful treatment.
First published on September 2, 2009 |
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