Impact of prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy on patients after drug-eluting stents implantation

Background Impact of dual antiplatelet therapy beyond 12 months on patients implanted with DES remains unsolved.Methods From January 2010 to June 2011,1873 patients who have been taking DAPT and free from death,myocardial infarction,stroke,repeat coronary revascularization,stent thrombosis,and major or minor bleeding according to TIMI criteria for 12 months after implantation of DES were randomly assigned to continuous (prolonged DAPT group) or discontinuous (standard DAPT group) clopidogrel (75 mg/day).The primary outcome was major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) which compose of death,nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI),nonfatal stroke,target vessel revascularization (TVR) or stent thrombosis (ST) at 180 days.Results There was no significant difference in the incidence of 180-day MACEs between prolonged DAPT group and standard DAPT group (8.98 % versus 10.13 %,respectively,P=0.400).The frequency of major bleeding was 0.64 % in prolonged DAPT arm and 0.43% in standard DAPT arm (P=0.523),that of minor bleeding was 3.32 % versus 2.87 % (P=0.585),respectively.Conclusions Prolonged DAPT beyond 12 months neither improve prognosis nor increase risk of bleeding in patients implanted with DES.