Background: "Ad hoc" percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a frequent practice as reported in large real-life registries, but most of the patients undergo PCI without being on full and effective dual antiplatelet therapy or clopidogrel is administered orally only a few minutes before the beginning of the procedure. This practice, especially in complex PCI, could be affected by a higher rate of peri-procedural adverse events.
Case summary: We present the case of a 72-year old male diabetic, hypertensive and hyperlipidemic, clopidogrel-naïve, with stable angina who underwent coronary angiography showing several tight stenoses on the left descending artery (LAD) and followed by a chronic total occlusion (CTO) of the vessel. The two main diagonal branches were severely stenosed at the origin as well. Due to patient's decision an ad hoc complex PCI (CTO and multiple Bifurcations) was successfully performed using cangrelor, instead of cath-lab clopidogrel pretreatment, in order to reduce the incidence of peri-procedural myocardial infarction risk, as suggested by recent evidence. Finally, the patient was started on dual antiplatelet therapy with ticagrelor, as guidelines recommend to consider in complex procedures, and discharged 48 h later without complications or significant increases of myocardial enzymes.
Discussion: Current Guidelines recommend loading dose (I/A) or pre-treatment with clopidogrel, nevertheless trials have not demonstrated its benefit, unlike cangrelor. This case highlights the role of aggressive antiplatelet therapy administered in the cath lab to reduce periprocedural ischemic events during elective treatment of complex lesions requiring multiple stenting in clopidogrel-naïve patients.
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