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The safety of bivalirudin during elective percutaneous coronary interventions in heart transplant patients
open access
Abstract
Methods: Heart transplant patients who had undergone PCI of de novo lesions and received bivalirudin during the procedure were included in the study. Medical records were reviewed for the occurrence of death, myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization or major bleeding up to 30 days after discharge. The results were compared with the REPLACE 2 trial and with a control group of heart transplant recipients who received heparin during their procedures.
Results: There were 51 separate PCIs performed in 30 patients in the study group. The mean age was 56 ± 12 years and 6 (20%) were women. The control group consisted of 24 patients who had undergone 35 PCIs. There were no deaths, myocardial infarctions or target vessel revascularization during the follow-up period in the study group. The combined endpoint of death, myocardial infarctions, target vessel revascularization and major bleeding requiring two or more units of packed red blood cells occurred in 2 (3.9%) patients compared to 275 (9.2%) patients in the REPLACE 2 trial (p = 0.195) and 5 (14.3%) in the control group (p = 0.115).
Conclusion: Bivalirudin is a safe antithrombotic medication to use during elective PCI in heart transplant patients with cardiac allograft vasculopathy. (Cardiol J 2007; 14: 458-462)
Abstract
Methods: Heart transplant patients who had undergone PCI of de novo lesions and received bivalirudin during the procedure were included in the study. Medical records were reviewed for the occurrence of death, myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization or major bleeding up to 30 days after discharge. The results were compared with the REPLACE 2 trial and with a control group of heart transplant recipients who received heparin during their procedures.
Results: There were 51 separate PCIs performed in 30 patients in the study group. The mean age was 56 ± 12 years and 6 (20%) were women. The control group consisted of 24 patients who had undergone 35 PCIs. There were no deaths, myocardial infarctions or target vessel revascularization during the follow-up period in the study group. The combined endpoint of death, myocardial infarctions, target vessel revascularization and major bleeding requiring two or more units of packed red blood cells occurred in 2 (3.9%) patients compared to 275 (9.2%) patients in the REPLACE 2 trial (p = 0.195) and 5 (14.3%) in the control group (p = 0.115).
Conclusion: Bivalirudin is a safe antithrombotic medication to use during elective PCI in heart transplant patients with cardiac allograft vasculopathy. (Cardiol J 2007; 14: 458-462)
Keywords
bivalirudin; safety; percutaneous coronary interventions; heart transplant


Title
The safety of bivalirudin during elective percutaneous coronary interventions in heart transplant patients
Journal
Issue
Pages
458-462
Published online
2007-08-02
Page views
430
Article views/downloads
1263
DOI
10.5603/cj.21667
Bibliographic record
Cardiol J 2007;14(5):458-462.
Keywords
bivalirudin
safety
percutaneous coronary interventions
heart transplant
Authors
Raed A. Aqel
Fadi G. Hage
Gilbert J. Zoghbi
Jose A. Tallaj
Vijay K. Misra
Robert C. Bourge