Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) who need percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) after acute coronary syndrome or for stable angina pose a treatment challenge as oral anticoagulants (OACs) and dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) are often used concurrently to decrease the risk of systemic thromboembolism and stent thrombosis. However, “triple therapy”, including aspirin, a P2Y₁₂ inhibitor, and an OAC (eg, warfarin or a direct oral anticoagulant-DOAC), also increases the risk of bleeding, necessitating several recent landmark trials to better address the subject.

Two modest-sized RCTs (WOEST and ISAR-TRIPLE) reported that when compared to triple therapy (DAPT plus warfarin), double therapy (single antiplatelet agent plus INR-targeted warfarin) is associated with reduced risk of bleeding complications without an increased risk of thrombotic events. ^1,2

Two larger RCTs, PIONEER AF-PCI and RE-DUAL PCI, studied rivaroxaban and dabigatran, respectively, in patients with non-valvular AF undergoing PCI and found a reduction in bleeding events in patients receiving double therapy (single antiplatelet agent plus DOAC) compared to triple therapy (DAPT plus warfarin), without an increased risk of thrombotic complications. ^3,4

Collectively, these studies suggest that it may be safe to treat patients with increased risk of bleeding with double therapy (even immediately following PCI) without an increase in thrombotic events. If triple therapy is elected, duration should be minimized, clopidogrel should be preferred over more potent P2Y₁₂ inhibitors, and a PPI should be considered.

References:

1. Dewilde WJ, Oirbans T, Verheugt FW, et al. Use of clopidogrel with or without aspirin in patients taking oral anticoagulant therapy and undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: an open-label, randomised, controlled trial. Lancet. 2013;381:1107-15. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23415013
2. Fiedler KA, Maeng M, Mehilli J, et al. Duration of triple therapy in patients requiring oral anticoagulation after drug-eluting stent Implantation: The ISAR-TRIPLE Trial. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;65:1619-29. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25908066
3. Gibson CM, Mehran R, Bode C, et al. Prevention of bleeding in patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing PCI. N Engl J Med. 2016;375:2423-2434. http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1611594
4. Cannon CP, Bhatt DL, Oldgren J, et al. Dual antithrombotic therapy with dabigatran after PCI in atrial fibrillation. N Engl J Med. Published online, Aug, 27, 2017. http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa1708454

Contributed by Amulya Nagarur, MD, Mass General Hospital, Boston, MA