Vaskulárna medicína 1/2015

Monitoring of dual antiplatelet therapy by VASP phosphorylation method

Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with clopidogrel and acetylsalicylic acid represents cornerstone in the prevention of thromboembolic events in patients with coronary artery disease who undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). One of the major pitfalls appears in wide interindividual variability in response to clopidogrel. A large number of patients do not respond adequately, and therefore are not „protected“ against major adverse cardiovascular events in spite of receiving DAPT. Non-responders are exposed to three-fold higher risk of myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis and cardiac death. The aforementioned reasons raise the necessity for implementation of reliable laboratory test in order to detect vulnerable individuals. Ideally, such test may serve in management of treatment specifically tailored to individual patients.

Keywords: antiplatelet treatment, VASP, acute coronary syndrome, flow cytometry.