Skip Navigation



European Heart Journal Advance Access published online on June 1, 2009
European Heart Journal, doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehp230
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
30/14/1695    most recent
ehp230v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Van de Werf, F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Van de Werf, F.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author 2009. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

New antithrombotic agents: are they needed and what can they offer to patients with a non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome?

Frans Van de Werf*

Department of Cardiology, University Hospitals Leuven, Herestraat 49, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium

Received 25 February 2009; revised 15 April 2009; accepted 8 May 2009 * Corresponding author. Tel: +32 16 34 34 72, Fax: +32 16 34 34 67, Email: frans.vandewerf{at}uz.kuleuven.ac.be

Antithrombotic therapy is a cornerstone of treatment for non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes, as demonstrated in numerous clinical trials. Long-term oral antiplatelet therapy targeting specific platelet activation pathways has demonstrated significant long-term benefits, whereas antithrombin use is limited to the acute setting. Despite proven efficacy of long-term dual oral antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel, residual morbidity and mortality is considerable. This may be partly due to incomplete inhibition of platelet activation with current agents and/or lack of long-term anticoagulant therapy. Improvements in patient outcomes could be achieved by developing agents that inhibit other platelet activation pathways or by adding new anticoagulants such as oral anti-IIa or anti-Xa agents for a prolonged period of time after the acute event. This review describes the rationale behind and the current status of the trials with new antithrombotic agents.

Key Words: Non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes • Aspirin • Clopidogrel • Thrombin • Antiplatelet agents • Anticoagulants


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.