Bleeding was significantly less common with bivalirudin than with heparin plus a GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor, regardless of age.
The randomized ACUITY trial (JW Cardiol Nov 22 2006), sponsored in part by the makers of bivalirudin, showed that bivalirudin alone was equivalent to heparin (unfractionated or low molecular weight) plus a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor in terms of ischemic events (all-cause death, myocardial infarction, or unplanned revascularization) and safer in terms of bleeding outcomes in patients with unstable angina or non–ST-segment-elevation MI (NSTEMI) who underwent emergent cardiac catheterization. In a preplanned secondary analysis of data from the 13,819 patients in the ACUITY trial, researchers compared ischemic events and bleeding outcomes at 30 days between treatment groups by age.
At 30 days, ischemic events, including mortality, did not d…
Reviewing Author
Daniel J. Pallin, MD, MPH
Daniel J. Pallin, MD, MPH