Background: There is limited experience with the use of argatroban in combination with glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (GPIIb/IIIa) inhibitor in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).
Materials and methods: This single-center, retrospective study evaluated the efficacy (composite of death, myocardial infarction, or urgent revascularization) and safety (evaluated by TIMI major bleeding) of the argatroban with or without a GPIIb/IIIa inhibitor during PCI. Among 102 consecutive ACS patients (71.6% unstable angina or NSTEMI and 28.4% STEMI) who received argatroban (239 +/- 104 microg/kg bolus, followed by a 17 +/- 11 microg/kg/min infusion) for confirmed or suspected HIT during PCI, 52 patients (51%) received a GPIIb/IIIa inhibitor simultaneously (86% integrilin, 10% tirofiban, 4% abciximab) and 50 patients (49%) did not.
Results: There was no difference between the groups in the efficacy endpoint, which occurred in nine patients (17.3%) who received GPIIb/IIIa inhibitor and in eight patients (16%) who did not (P = 0.70). TIMI major bleeding occurred in three (5.8%) patients in the GPIIa/IIIb inhibitor group versus 0 (0%) patients in the argatroban alone group (P = 0.085).
Conclusion: In patients with suspected or confirmed HIT undergoing PCI for ACS, argatroban with or without GPIIb/IIIa appears to provide adequate anticoagulation and is well tolerated with a low rate of bleeding.