Two hour bivalirudin infusion after PCI for ST elevation myocardial infarction

The standard of care for STEMI PCI for the past decade has been aspirin, clopidogrel, heparin, and a glycoprotein IIbIIIa receptor inhibitor (GPI). A bivalirudin strategy was shown to be superior to a GPI strategy in the HORIZONS AMI trial for net adverse clinical events (combined MACE and bleeding). An increased risk of acute stent thrombosis in the bivalirudin arm may have prevented broader adoption of bivalirudin for this indication. We hypothesized that acute stent thrombosis risk could be ameliorated by a 2 h infusion of bivalirudin following STEMI PCI. We implemented a multicenter, prospective registry for all STEMI patients in Vermont treated at a single PCI center. Each patient was routinely pre-loaded with dual antiplatelet therapy and 75% received an unfractionated heparin bolus prior to PCI. The utilization of bivalirudin bolus and continued 2 h infusion after PCI was routine with GPI bailout optional. 128 consecutive STEMI patients underwent primary PCI from October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009. 92% of primary PCI patients received bivalrudin during and after the procedure with a 9% rate of bail out GPI. There was one case of probable or definite acute stent thrombosis (0.7%), and this single case occurred despite use of bailout GPI. Despite the prolonged infusion of bivalirudin, major bleeding occurred in only 1.7% of STEMI patients. In conclusion, prolonging bivalirudin for 2 h after STEMI PCI may be a promising method to alleviate acute stent thrombosis risk without losing the bleeding complication benefit of the bivalirudin strategy.