OBJECTIVE A review of the perioperative management of patients with hip fractures and concomitant therapy with antiplatelet agents, and to analyse the differences in mortality and perioperative bleeding in early surgery (<48 h) versus delayed surgery (>5 days). Platelet aggregation was measured on admission and immediately before surgery in all patients included in the study PATIENTS AND METH...

BACKGROUND Complex antithrombotic therapy (CAT) prescribed to elderly patients increases the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. We quantified upper (UGIE) and lower gastrointestinal (LGIE) events, transfusions, and hospitalizations in a national cohort of elderly veterans prescribed CAT. METHODS AND RESULTS Veterans ≥60 years of age prescribed anticoagulant-antiplatelet, aspirin (ASA)-antipla...

Three different murine tumors, CT26 colon adenocarcinoma, Lewis lung carcinoma, and B16 amelanotic melanoma, were injected into syngeneic mice (BALB/c and C57BL/6J) to test the effect of rabbit anti-mouse platelet antibody on the development of pulmonary metastases. Antiplatelet antibody, when injected i.p., decreased the platelet count from 1.5 x 10(6)/microliters to 0.12 x 10(6)/microliters a...

BACKGROUND Whether triple antiplatelet therapy is superior or similar to dual antiplatelet therapy in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention in the era of drug-eluting stents remains unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS A total of 4203 ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients who underwent primary percutaneous co...

BACKGROUND Thrombolysis with intravenous rt-PA is currently the only approved acute therapy for ischemic stroke. Re-occlusion after initial recanalization occurs in up to 34% in patients treated with rt-PA, probably caused by platelet activation. In acute myocardial infarction, the combination of thrombolysis and antiplatelet therapy leads to a greater reduction of mortality compared to thrombo...

Antiplatelet therapy plays a fundamental role in reducing atherothrombotic events by several pathways. The present work reviews available evidence on antiplatelet therapy both for primary prevention and in the presence of established peripheral, cerebral, or cardiac ischemic disease. Due to the importance of adherence to therapy to achieve optimal effects, special attention is given to the use ...

The current practice of withdrawing antiplatelet therapy before major surgery has been challenged by the introduction of coronary drug-eluting stents (DESs) since evidence is accumulating that a DES requires dual antiplatelet therapy for at least a year. The authors present a case demonstrating difficulty in decision-making when it comes to appropriate perioperative antiplatelet therapy. The pa...