Advances in antithrombin and antiplatelet therapy for percutaneous coronary intervention

Recent advances in anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy have made significant improvements in patient outcomes in percutaneous coronary interventions. Direct thrombin inhibitors have found an increasing role in coronary interventions as more trials validate their efficacy and safety. Further refinements of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors are enabling tailoring of these medications for the appropriate populations. While heparin alone had been the mainstay of anticoagulant therapy for many years, increasing studies with low molecular weight heparins, such as enoxaparin, and glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors have altered the landscape of percutaneous coronary interventions. The development of antiplatelet agents has been accelerated to improve long-term results. Over the past year, many exciting new developments in antithrombotic therapy with coronary intervention have evolved, providing improvement in patient care.