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Updated: Jul 8, 2025

Interventional Diagnostic Procedure: A Practical Guide for the Assessment of Coronary Vascular Function
Published on: March 15, 2022
[Use of parenteral anticoagulants in patients with coronary syndrome]
Juan P Costabel1, Ernesto Duronto2, Javier Guetta3
1Servicio de Cardiología, Instituto Cardiovascular de Buenos Aires (ICBA), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Insights
Parenteral anticoagulants improve outcomes in acute coronary syndromes but vary in clinical use. This review details evidence-based strategies for optimal anticoagulant selection and bleeding risk management.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Pharmacology
Background:
- Anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy are crucial for acute coronary syndromes (ACS), reducing ischemic events, stent thrombosis, and mortality.
- Clinical practice shows significant heterogeneity in anticoagulant use for ACS, potentially leading to suboptimal patient outcomes.
Approach:
- This paper presents a narrative review of parenteral anticoagulant use in ACS.
- It analyzes anticoagulant strategies based on clinical scenarios, revascularization methods, and bleeding risk.
- Updated evidence for anticoagulant regimens in ST-elevation and non-ST-elevation ACS is discussed.
Key Points:
- Heterogeneity in current anticoagulant practices for ACS necessitates evidence-based guidance.
- Tailoring anticoagulant therapy to clinical context, revascularization strategy, and bleeding risk is essential.
- Updated evidence supports specific anticoagulant schemes for different ACS presentations.
Conclusions:
- Optimizing parenteral anticoagulant therapy in ACS requires careful consideration of individual patient factors and clinical presentation.
- Evidence-based risk stratification for bleeding and tailored therapeutic management are critical for improving ACS treatment.
- Standardizing anticoagulant use based on updated evidence can enhance treatment efficacy and patient safety.
Abstract:
Anticoagulant treatment, together with antiplatelet therapy, plays an important role in the treatment of acute coronary syndromes. Its use is associated with a reduction in new ischemic events, stent thrombosis, and lower mortality. However, in clinical practice there is great heterogeneity in its use, leading to suboptimal results in treatment. This paper conducts a narrative review on the use of parenteral anticoagulants in patients with acute coronary syndromes, depending on the clinical scenario, as well as the revascularization strategy used and the bleeding risk. The different anticoagulant schemes available in acute coronary syndromes with and without segment ST elevation are addressed, based on the updated evidence. Finally, evidence-based strategies for risk stratification for bleeding and therapeutic management are developed.
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