Continuous Improvement of Antiplatelet Therapy in Cardiovascular Disease.

Besides lifestyle and lipid management, antiplatelet strategies are cornerstones in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. The major drawback of antiplatelet agents is the occurrence of bleeding, which may vary from nuisance hemorrhages to fatal bleeding. Impressive improvements have been made in the past decade to lower the risk of bleeding and maintaining the anti-ischemic efficacy. These steps forward consist not only in the use of one antiplatelet alone, but also in the combination of several agents as well as other effective medications in secondary prevention like lipid-lowering drugs. Greater pathophysiological insights, as well as appreciating ethnic differences in thrombosis and bleeding have also gained much interest.[1]