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WSU School of Medicine researchers were part of an international group of investigators examining whether a combined treatment regimen of Plavix and aspirin is more effective in treating heart disease than aspirin alone. The study's results showed that while the therapy may be beneficial to those already diagnosed with heart disease, it may be harmful to those with multiple risk factors, such as high cholesterol or blood pressure.
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| Dr. Chaturvedi |
The findings will be published in the April 20 New England Journal of Medicine , but were released online at www.nejm.org recently in conjunction with the 55th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology.
Dr. Seemant Chaturvedi, WSU associate professor of neurology and director of the WSU/DMC stroke program, was one of the study's co-investigators.
"Our findings do not support the use of dual antiplatelet therapy across the broad population tested," wrote the study's authors. "There was a potential benefit in symptomatic patients (those with established vascular disease); this finding requires further study. Data on mortality rates suggest that dual antiplatelet therapy should not be used in patients wtihout a history of established vascular disease."
The study, known as CHARISMA (Clopidogrel for High Atherothrombotic Risk and Ischemic Stabilization, Management and Avoidance), randomly assigned 15,603 patients in 32 countries with either diagnosed heart disease or mulitple risk factors for heart disease to receive either Plavix plus low-dose aspirin or a placebo plus low-dose aspirin. Patients were followed for almost two-and-a-half-years.
Among patients who had multiple risk factors, but had not yet been diagnosed with heart disease, there was a 20 percent increase in the rate of heart attacks, stroke or death among the patients who took Plavix, as opposed to those who did not (6.6 percent vs. 5.5 percent). Asymptomatic patients taking Plavix also died of all causes more frequently (5.4 percent vs. 3.8 percent) as well as of cardiovascular causes (3.9 percent vs. 2.2 percent.).
Patients who had heart disease already my have benefited from the Plavix treatments: 6.9 percent of those taking the combined therapy died or suffered heart attacks or strokes, as opposed to 7.9 percent of those taking aspirin alone.
For more information on this study, please visit http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/NEJMoa060989 .
With more than 1,000 students, the Wayne State University School of Medicine is the nation's third largest medical school. Together with its clinical partners, the Wayne State University Physician Group, the Detroit Medical Center and other area health-care providers, the school is a leader in medical research and patient care with emphases on cancer; maternal-child health; neurosciences; and population studies and urban health.
For release: April 2006
Contact: Jennifer Day
(313)
577-1429, jday@med.wayne.edu
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