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Aims: The optimal antithrombotic therapy to balance the risk of thrombosis and bleeding in patients who undergo transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is unknown. This systematic review/network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of different oral anticoagulant (OAC) and antiplatelet regimens in patients post-TAVI., Methods and Results: MEDLINE, Embase, CENTRAL, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched from inception to April 2023. Co-primary outcomes were all-cause death and major bleeding. We conducted Bayesian network meta-analyses to compare all interventions simultaneously. For each outcome, we generated odds ratios (ORs) with 95% credible intervals using a random-effects model with informative priors, and ranked interventions based on mean surface under the cumulative ranking curve. We included 11 RCTs (n = 6415), including 1 unpublished RCT. Three trials enrolled patients with an indication for an OAC. Overall risk of bias was low or with some concerns. Median age was 81 years. Median follow-up was 6 months. The combination of OAC plus single antiplatelet therapy (SAPT) increased the risk of all-cause death compared with dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) (OR 1.78, 95% credible interval 1.15-2.77). No other comparisons for all-cause death were significantly different. For major bleeding, SAPT reduced the risk compared with DAPT, direct-acting OAC, and OAC + SAPT (OR 0.20-0.40), and DAPT reduced the risk compared with OAC + SAPT. SAPT and DAPT ranked best for all-cause death, while SAPT ranked best for major bleeding., Conclusion: In post-TAVI patients, SAPT may provide the optimal balance of reducing thrombotic events while minimizing the risk of bleeding., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.)

Purpose: To identify randomized controlled trials that compared antiplatelet monotherapy to combination antiplatelet plus anticoagulant therapy and evaluated major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) or major adverse limb events (MALE), death, or bleeding in patients with lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD)., Summary: A systematic search of MEDLINE, Embase, and CENTRAL databases revealed 5 trials. Two trials consisted of patients with stable PAD, while 3 trials examined patients with PAD post revascularization. Antiplatelet therapy was mostly aspirin (81-325 mg daily), and anticoagulation included rivaroxaban 2.5 mg twice daily or warfarin. Duration of follow-up ranged from 12 to 38 months. Two trials had low risk of bias, whereas 3 trials had high/unclear risk of bias. For patients with stable PAD, one trial showed that use of warfarin (or acenocoumarol) with antiplatelet therapy did not reduce MACE, MALE, or cardiovascular or all-cause death but increased the risk of life-threatening bleeding. A second trial demonstrated that low-dose rivaroxaban plus antiplatelet therapy lowered the risk of MACE and MALE, with no effect in preventing cardiovascular or all-cause death, but increased the risk of major bleeding. For patients with PAD post revascularization receiving warfarin and antiplatelet therapy, 2 trials showed no benefit in MACE or MALE but increased or similar rates of all-cause death and major bleeding. In a third trial, low-dose rivaroxaban plus aspirin reduced occurrence of the composite of MACE and MALE but increased major bleeding, with no effect on cardiovascular or all-cause death., Conclusion: Dual-pathway inhibition with low-dose rivaroxaban and aspirin reduced MACE and MALE in patients with stable or revascularized PAD, but net clinical benefit is questionable., (© American Society of Health-System Pharmacists 2021. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Twelve months of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is recommended after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation. However, certain clinical scenarios may require premature discontinuation of therapy (e.g. urgent surgical procedure, major bleeding). The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate clinically relevant outcomes associated with a shorter duration of DAPT after PCI with DES implantation., Methods: A systematic search of Medline and Embase (inception to December 2015) was conducted. Included were randomized controlled trials that compared 6 months (or less) of DAPT (defined as acetylsalicylic acid 75-200mg daily and a P2Y12 inhibitor) to the standard of 12 months. Outcomes of interest included death (all-cause and cardiac), myocardial infarction (MI), definite/probable stent thrombosis, and bleeding (major and overall). An odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated for each outcome using a random effects model., Results: Six trials (five open-label, one double-blind) were included (N=13,900). Four studies investigated 6 months of DAPT, and two studies investigated 3 months. Median follow-up was 12 months. There was no statistically significantly difference between groups regarding all-cause death (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.64-1.20), cardiac death (OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.64-1.55), MI (OR 1.16, 95% CI 0.87-1.56), and stent thrombosis (OR 1.22, 95% CI 0.70-2.15). Both major and any bleeding were significantly decreased with shorter-term DAPT (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.34-0.98, and OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.47-0.81, respectively)., Conclusions: Shorter duration (3-6 months) of DAPT, as compared to 12 months, was not associated with a higher risk of death, MI, or stent thrombosis, but a lower rate of major and overall bleeding., (Copyright © 2016 Japanese College of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Published evidence on varying durations of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with implantation of a drug-eluting stent (DES) is reviewed., Summary: A systematic literature search identified 13 randomized controlled trials and eight meta-analyses evaluating patient outcomes of standard (12-month) versus shorter or longer courses of DAPT (aspirin and a P2Y12 inhibitor, usually clopidogrel) after PCI with DES implantation. Evaluated outcomes included cardiovascular (CV) events, stent thrombosis, bleeding events, and mortality. Overall, the available evidence indicates that DAPT for periods of 3-6 months was as effective as DAPT courses of 12 months or more in reducing rates of CV events and stent thrombosis and was associated with similar or lower rates of bleeding; however, the quality of that evidence was limited by methodological shortcomings, including open-label study designs and low overall event rates. Relative to 12-month DAPT, DAPT for longer periods (up to four years) was associated with decreased rates of CV events and stent thrombosis (the reduction in thrombosis risk was greatest in patients who received a first-generation DES) but also increased bleeding events; all-cause mortality appears to be similar or potentially higher with extended-duration DAPT., Conclusion: DAPT for a period of 12 months should continue to be the standard recommendation after PCI with DES implantation. Routine use of shorter- or longer-duration DAPT should be discouraged; if such therapy is considered, prescribing decisions should be based on individual patient risk factors., (Copyright © 2016 by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc. All rights reserved.)

There is wide variability in prescribing of antiplatelet regimens following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). The objective of this review was to evaluate published and unpublished reports regarding the efficacy and safety of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) compared with a single antiplatelet agent in patients undergoing TAVI. We searched MEDLINE, CENTRAL, Embase, and unpublished sources of literature from inception to December 2014 using terms synonymous with TAVI and DAPT. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort or case-control studies that compared DAPT with a single antiplatelet agent post-TAVI. Four articles met the inclusion criteria (2 RCTs, 2 cohort studies), of which all were deemed to be at high risk of bias, for a total of 662 patients. Compared with a single antiplatelet agent, DAPT did not significantly reduce all-cause mortality (risk ratio: 1.22, 95% confidence interval: 0.72-2.09, I(2) = 0%). Due to selective outcome reporting and variable follow-up, other outcomes of interest could not be meta-analyzed; however, evaluation of individual studies demonstrated no significant reduction in thrombotic events with DAPT and a similar or higher risk of bleeding. Current evidence, though limited by low methodological quality, suggests a lack of benefit and potential harm with DAPT compared with a single antiplatelet agent in patients post-TAVI. Therefore, clinicians should evaluate the use of DAPT in patients post-TAVI on a case-by-case basis until more robust evidence is available to guide practice., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)