Background: Platelet inhibition at the time of a percutaneous coronary intervention has consistently been shown to decrease the risk of thrombotic adverse events but not restenosis. The role of enhanced antiplatelet protection through pretreatment with the platelet ADP-receptor antagonist ticlopidine in preventing both the early and late complications of coronary stenting has not previously been explored.
Methods and results: In the Evaluation of Platelet IIb/IIIa Inhibitor for Stenting (EPISTENT) trial, approximately 1600 patients were randomized to stenting with either placebo or abciximab in addition to aspirin and heparin. All stented patients also received ticlopidine after the procedure, but 58% of these patients were given ticlopidine before stenting at the discretion of the investigating physician. Among patients randomized to placebo, ticlopidine pretreatment was associated with a significant decrease in the incidence of the composite end point of death, myocardial infarction, or target vessel revascularization (TVR) at 1 year (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.98; P:=0.036). Ticlopidine pretreatment did not significantly influence the risk of death or myocardial infarction in patients randomized to abciximab. Controlling for patient characteristics and for the propensity of being on ticlopidine, Cox proportional hazards regression identified ticlopidine pretreatment as an independent predictor of the need for TVR at 1 year (hazard ratio, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.43 to 0.89; P:=0.010) in both placebo-treated and abciximab-treated patients.
Conclusions: In the EPISTENT trial, among patients randomized to stenting, starting ticlopidine before the percutaneous coronary intervention was associated with a significant decrease in the incidence of the 12-month composite end point for patients not receiving abciximab and the need for TVR among all patients.