The scientists believe that switching to bivalirudin could save hundreds of thousands of lives each year.
The results were recently announced in a Late Breaking Clinical Trial presentation at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in Chicago and were published in. This research might have far-reaching implications, altering the treatment of hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide who suffer a major blockage in a heart artery, a condition known as ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, or STEMI. It is the most severe kind of heart attack.
Patients suffering STEMI heart attacks were included in the “BRIGHT-4” trial and received “primary PCI”—an emergency stenting procedure to maintain heart muscle function. During this minimally invasive operation, patients will need anticoagulant therapy to successfully open the blocked heart artery and prevent future blood clots from developing and triggering another heart attack.
Investigators followed patients for 30 days following the procedure, the timeframe in which STEMI patients are at the highest risk for adverse events. The primary goal of the study was to compare the occurrence of all-cause mortality or major bleeding. Researchers found that 4.4 percent of patients treated with heparin died or had a major bleed within 30 days, compared to 3.1 percent of patients treated with bivalirudin.