When people have serious heart conditions, doctors often perform a special procedure called percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to open up clogged heart arteries.
After this, patients usually take two types of medicine to prevent blood clots: aspirin and ticagrelor.
But a recent study has shown that taking just ticagrelor and dropping aspirin a month after the procedure can be safer and reduce bleeding problems without increasing any heart risks.
This important discovery comes from the ULTIMATE-DAPT study, which was shared at a major heart conference and published in a trusted medical journal. The study is unique because it focused on patients who are at high risk of having another heart attack.
It compared two groups of heart patients: one that continued taking both aspirin and ticagrelor, and another that took only ticagrelor after the first month, along with a placebo (a pill that doesn’t have any real effect).
The results were surprising and promising. The group that stopped aspirin had more than 50% fewer bleeding problems. Even better, they didn’t have more heart attacks, strokes, or other heart problems compared to those who stayed on both drugs.
This challenges the current standard, where patients are usually told to take both medications for a long time after PCI. Dr. Gregg W. Stone, the lead researcher, says that this new approach—dropping aspirin after the first month—may be safer and just as effective for most patients.
The study included over 3,400 patients from 58 hospitals in four different countries. All of them had undergone PCI to treat blocked heart arteries. One month after their procedure, when they were stable, half the patients continued with just ticagrelor while the other half stayed on both ticagrelor and aspirin.
Researchers monitored the patients for a full year. They found that those taking only ticagrelor had far fewer bleeding problems, which can be dangerous and sometimes life-threatening. Yet, both groups had the same rates of serious heart issues like heart attacks, death, or needing another procedure.
This means aspirin might not be necessary after the first month for many patients, which goes against the old belief that stopping blood thinners too soon could be risky.
The findings from this study could change how doctors treat heart patients around the world. Using just one strong medicine like ticagrelor after the first month may help reduce side effects while still protecting the heart.
This simpler treatment plan could also improve the daily lives of millions of patients by lowering the risk of bleeding and making medication easier to manage.
If you care about heart health, be sure to check out more research about heart failure, new ways to repair the heart, and how drinking coffee may even reduce the risk of heart failure.
The results from the ULTIMATE-DAPT study were published in The Lancet.
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