The Janus Face of the Dual Anti-Platelet Therapy (DAPT) after Myocardial Infarction. What can be done to overcome the Risk by the Beneficial Potential of its use?

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI) substantially contributes to this mortality, accounting for almost 1.8 million annual deaths [1]. Patients who had a myocardial infarction are at heightened risk for a recurrence of the ischemic event over the long term [2-4]. Thus, extensive research efforts were made to improve the management of available therapeutic tools that can limit the side effects and implement them in clinical practice. Based on over 35 randomized clinical trials enrolling more than 225,000 patients, dual anti-platelet therapy, DAPT, is among the most intensively investigated treatment options in the field of cardiovascular medicine and it is shown to reduce the risk of recurrent infarction in patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) [5][6][7][8][9], by decreasing the mortality rate of 12% [10].