The ACUITY trial was led by Gregg W. Stone, M.D., F.A.C.C., Columbia University Medical Center and the Cardiovascular Research Foundation, New York City. He and his colleagues from 448 medical centers in 17 countries randomly assigned 13,820 patients with moderate-to-high-risk ACS to one of three treatments: heparin (conventional, unfractionated or a low-molecular-weight alternative, enoxaparin) plus GPI, bivalirudin plus GPI, or bivalirudin alone. One month after treatment, investigators measured the net clinical benefit, which balances the risks of ACS itself--death, heart attack, or an unplanned procedure to open the blocked coronary artery--against the major bleeding risks of anti-clotting therapy.
Dr. Stone will present the results of the ACUITY trial in a Late Breaking Clinical Trials session on Sunday, March 12, at 11:36 a.m.
Pexelizumab, a Terminal Complement Inhibitor in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery: Results From the Pexelizumab for the Reduction of Infarction and Mortality in CABG II Trial (PRIMOCABG II)
Use of a cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) machine to circulate blood outside the body enables surgeons to stop the heart during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), but it also provokes an inflammatory response that increases the risk of heart attack and death. In addition, cardiac surgery subjects the heart itself to inflammatory injury when the blood supply is re-established. The international PRIMOCABG II trial will shed light on whether treatment with pexelizumab, a medication that inhibits one pathway in that inflammatory process, can improve outcomes in high-risk patients.
"The inflammatory response is natural and sometimes protective, but it can be harmful," said Peter K
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13-Mar-2006