Clinical applications of bivalirudin in the cardiac catheterization laboratory

Heparin has been used in the catheterization laboratory to prevent ischemic complications of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Bivalirudin, a direct thrombin inhibitor, is an anticoagulant that has several pharmacologic advantages over heparin, and it has been proposed that bivalirudin is superior to heparin in its ability to prevent bleeding complications of PCI. As such, there have been a variety of large prospective clinical trials comparing bivalirudin and heparin over the past 13 years. The results of these trials have prompted the general acceptance of bivalirudin as a safe alternative to heparin use during PCI, and bivalirudin has been given a class 1 recommendation by the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) guidelines for a variety of clinical indications. This article will review the data supporting the use of bivalirudin in the cardiac catheterization laboratory and describe several advantages of bivalirudin over traditional heparin use. We also include a discussion of the use of bivalirudin in conjunction with other medications that are frequently used in the catheterization laboratory. We end with an analysis of the economic differences between bivalirudin and heparin and the impact that financial factors may have on the choice of anticoagulant.