Background: Current pharmacotherapeutic options for high-risk non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome patients include aspirin, clopidogrel, heparin, and platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibition. A key issue of uncertainty is the safety and efficacy of combination glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor and low-molecular-weight heparin therapy.
Methods and results: We randomized 746 patients with rest ischemic discomfort within 24 hours after the onset of symptoms and ST-segment deviation and/or elevation of serum cardiac markers to receive open-label enoxaparin (1 mg/kg subcutaneously twice daily) or unfractionated heparin (70-U/kg bolus; 15 U x kg(-1) x h(-1) infusion, titrated to an activated partial thromboplastin time of 1.5 to 2 times control) for 48 hours. All patients received aspirin and eptifibatide (180- microg/kg bolus; 2 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1) infusion). Major non-coronary artery bypass surgery-related bleeding at 96 hours (primary safety outcome) was significantly lower among enoxaparin-treated patients than among heparin-treated patients (1.8% versus 4.6%, P=0.03). Minor bleeding was more frequent in the enoxaparin group (30.3% versus 20.8%, P=0.003). Patients in the enoxaparin group were less likely to experience ischemia as detected by continuous ECG evaluation (primary efficacy outcome) during the initial (14.3% versus 25.4%, P=0.0002) and subsequent (12.7% versus 25.9%, P<0.0001) 48-hour monitoring periods. Death or myocardial infarction at 30 days was significantly lower in the enoxaparin group (5% versus 9%, P=0.031).
Conclusions: When aspirin and eptifibatide are used in high-risk non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome patients, enoxaparin improves outcomes (determined on the basis of better safety and efficacy) compared with currently recommended unfractionated heparin therapy and provides a useful novel alternative therapeutic strategy.