Background: Prasugrel compared to clopidogrel has been shown to improve outcome in patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in the TRITON-TIMI 38 trial. Little is known about the use, efficacy and safety of prasugrel in patients with STEMI in clinical practice.
Methods: We conducted a prospective registry including patients with STEMI scheduled for primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Between October 2009 and February 2013 a total of 3291 patients with STEMI receiving a loading dose of either clopidogrel or prasugrel were included in this analysis.
Results: Prasugrel was predominantly used in patients <75 years, body weight >60 kg and those without prior stroke. In-hospital mortality was numerically lower in the prasugrel group (1.7% vs. 4.4%), as well as non-fatal reinfarction (0.2% vs. 0.5%), non-fatal stroke (0.1% vs. 0.3%) and major cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) (2.1% vs. 5.2%), while there was no difference in major bleeding complications (0.8% vs. 0.9%). In the multivariate analysis the MACCE-rate tended to be lower in prasugrel treated patients (odds ratio 0.71, 95% confidence intervals 0.42-1.08) but bleeding-rates tended to be higher.
Conclusions: In this real life experience in patients with STEMI scheduled for primary PCI, prasugrel was almost exclusively used in the label-recommended patient population and tended to be more effective but associated with more bleedings compared to clopidogrel. These results support the findings in the STEMI population in the randomized TRITON-TIMI 38 study.
Keywords: Antiplatelet therapy; Clopidogrel; Percutaneous coronary intervention; Prasugrel; ST elevation myocardial infarction.
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