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22/10/2025 - General information

Hospital del Mar is taking part in a study that proposes changing the pharmacological treatment after angioplasty.

An international multicenter study published in the New England Journal of Medicine may drive a change in pharmacological treatment after performing angioplasty for myocardial infarction. The study, which involved forty European hospitals - three of them in Spain, including the Hemodynamics Unit at Hospital del Mar - demonstrated the effectiveness of continuing treatment with a single antiplatelet drug, without aspirin, starting one month after the procedure to implant a stent in the heart, and continuing for eleven months.

Beatriz_Vaquerizo

Dr. Beatriz Vaquerizo

Dr. Beatriz Vaquerizo, Head of the Cardiology Department at Hospital del Mar and researcher in the Biomedical Research Group on Heart Diseases at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, is one of the co-authors of the study. The analysis included data from nearly 2,000 patients, divided into two groups. One followed the standard dual therapy treatment, combining aspirin with one of the three recommended antiplatelet drugs (clopidogrel, ticagrelor, or prasugrel), while the other received monotherapy with one of these drugs - mainly prasugrel - omitting aspirin.

The results show that this second approach is not inferior to the standard treatment. "It can be stated that treatment with a single, more potent antiplatelet agent, such as clopidogrel, ticagrelor, or prasugrel, may be sufficient for these patients once they have completed one month of combined therapy with aspirin," explains Dr. Vaquerizo. No increase in cardiovascular or cerebrovascular adverse events was observed, and the incidence of bleeding was low. This suggests that aspirin could be safely discontinued after the first month following angioplasty, minimizing the risk of hemorrhage.

Reference article
Tarantini G, Honton B, Paradies V, Lemesle G, Range G, Godin M, Mangin L, Cuisset T, Ruiz-Nodar JM, Brugaletta S, Lhermusier T, Piot C, De Poli F, Macia JC, Motreff P, Madera-Cambero M, Beygui F, Riccini P, Ranc S, Oreglia JA, Vaquerizo B, Poezevara Y, Bouchez D, Smits PC, Cayla G; TARGET-FIRST Investigators. Early Discontinuation of Aspirin after PCI in Low-Risk Acute Myocardial Infarction. N Engl J Med. 2025 Aug 31. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2508808. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40888726.

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