Extended dual antiplatelet therapy after acute myocardial infarction. Current evidence and future perspectives

• Published in: Monaldi archives for chest disease 2019-07, Vol.89 (2)
• Main Authors: Cosentino, Nicola, Campodonico, Jeness, Milazzo, Valentina, Celentano, Katia, Moltrasio, Marco, Faggiano, Pompilio, Marenzi, Giancarlo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acute myocardial infarction; bleeding; Coronary Artery Disease - therapy; Dual Anti-Platelet Therapy - adverse effects; Dual Anti-Platelet Therapy - methods; dual antiplatelet therapy; Humans; ischemic risk; Myocardial Infarction - therapy; Percutaneous Coronary Intervention - methods; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors - administration & dosage; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors - adverse effects; Practice Guidelines as Topic; risk score; Time Factors
• ISSN: 1122-0643; 2532-5264
• DOI: 10.4081/monaldi.2019.1046

Patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) are at increased risk of recurrent ischemic events after hospital discharge, despite optimal medical therapy. Current practice guidelines strongly encourage the early assessment of the residual ischemic risk in post-AMI patients, in order to identify those who may benefit from a prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy. To this end, some scoring systems have been proposed. However, most scores were developed for patients with stable coronary artery disease undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. Moreover, nearly all failed to be implemented in everyday clinical practice, probably because of the perceived complexity due to the large number of incorporated variables. Therefore, the identification of the ideal AMI patient who can benefit from a prolonged (beyond 1 year after the index event) dual antiplatelet therapy remains to be clarified, especially when the bleeding risk associated with such therapy is considered. In this review, we summarize the current evidence on the prolonged use of dual antiplatelet therapy after AMI, with a special focus on recent advances regarding the identification of high-risk patients who may derive a favorable net clinical benefit from such a therapeutic strategy.