Outcome of urgent and elective percutaneous coronary interventions after pharmacologic reperfusion with tenecteplase combined with unfractionated heparin, enoxaparin, or abciximab

Objectives The aim of this study was to evaluate percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the Assessment of the Safety and Efficacy of New Thrombolytic Regimens (ASSENT-3) trial. Background In the ASSENT-3 trial, co-therapy with abciximab (ABC) or enoxaparin (ENOX) reduced ischemic complications after ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction treated with tenecteplase when compared with unfractionated heparin (UFH). The effect of these new co-therapies on the results of PCI is unknown. Methods Clinical outcomes in patients who received co-therapy with ABC, ENOX, or UFH and subsequently underwent an elective (n = 1,064) or urgent (n = 716) PCI in the ASSENT-3 trial were compared. Results No significant differences in clinical end points were observed in patients who underwent an elective PCI. A non-significant trend toward fewer in-hospital myocardial re-infarctions was seen with ABC and ENOX when compared with UFH (0.5% vs. 0.6% vs. 1.5%, respectively). The incidence of bleeding complications was similar in the three treatment arms. Significantly fewer ABC- and ENOX-treated patients needed urgent PCI compared with UFH (9.1% vs. 11.9% vs. 14.3%; p < 0.0001), but outcomes in these patients were in general less favorable (30-day mortality: 8.2% vs. 5.4% vs. 4.5%; 1-year mortality: 11.0% vs. 8.5% vs. 5.6%; in-hospital re-infarction: 3.9% vs. 2.5% vs. 2.7%; major bleeding complications: 8.8% vs. 7.0% vs. 3.4%). In pairwise comparisons with UFH, the higher one-year mortality and major bleeding rates after ABC were statistically significant (p = 0.045 and p = 0.012, respectively). Conclusions Clinical outcomes after elective PCI were similar with the three antithrombotic co-therapies studied in ASSENT-3. Although fewer patients needed urgent PCI with ABC and ENOX, clinical outcomes were less favorable in this selected population, especially with ABC.