Impact of Platelet Reactivity on Clinical Outcomes After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: A Collaborative Meta-Analysis of Individual Participant Data

The purpose of the study was to systematically evaluate the significance of platelet reactivity on clopidogrel treatment on adverse cardiovascular events using a collaborative meta-analysis using patient-level data for the VerifyNow P2Y12 assay (Accumetrics, San Diego, California). Clinical evidence has been controversial regarding the influence of clopidogrel on treatment platelet reactivity and ischemic outcomes. MEDLINE, Scopus, and the Cochrane library databases were searched through January 2010. A database containing individual patient-level time-to-event data was generated from identified studies. The primary outcome of interest was a composite of death, myocardial infarction (MI), or stent thrombosis. Secondary outcomes included the incidence of: 1) death; 2) MI; and 3) stent thrombosis. A total of 6 studies with 3,059 patients was included. In each study, clopidogrel responsiveness was assessed using the same point-of-care assay after percutaneous coronary intervention. The primary endpoint occurred more frequently in higher quartiles of P2Y(12) reaction unit (PRU) values: quartile I, 5.8%; quartile II, 6.9%; quartile III, 10.9%; quartile IV, 15.8% (p < 0.001). Taking quartile I as referent, the hazard ratios (HRs) for the primary endpoint were as follows: quartile II, HR: 1.13 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.72 to 1.78; p = 0.60); quartile III, HR: 1.82 (95% CI: 1.20 to 2.75; p = 0.005); quartile IV, HR: 2.62 (95% CI: 1.78 to 3.87; p < 0.001). On a continuous scale, every 10-U increase in PRU was associated with a significantly higher rate of the primary endpoint (HR: 1.04; 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.06; p < 0.0001). According to receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis, a PRU value of 230 appeared to best predict death, MI, or stent thrombosis (p < 0.001). A PRU value ≥230 was associated with a higher rate of the composite primary endpoint (HR: 2.10; 95% CI: 1.62 to 2.73; p < 0.0001), as well as the individual endpoints of death (HR: 1.66; 95% CI: 1.04 to 2.68; p = 0.04), MI (HR: 2.04; 95% CI: 1.51 to 2.76; p < 0.001), and stent thrombosis (HR: 3.11; 95% CI: 1.50 to 6.46; p = 0.002). In this collaborative meta-analysis, the level of on-treatment platelet reactivity according to the P2Y(12) assay is associated with long-term cardiovascular events after percutaneous coronary intervention, including death, MI, and stent thrombosis.