The Management of Patients on Oral Anticoagulation Undergoing Coronary Stent Implantation: A Survey among Interventional Cardiologists from Eight European Countries

PURPOSE: To evaluate the current management, and adherence to recommendations, of patients on oral anticoagulation (OAC) undergoing coronary stent implantation (PCI-S). METHODS: By means of a contact person who had been previously identified in 8 European countries, a questionnaire was electronically forwarded between April and July 2010 to the national institutions where PCI-S is performed. RESULTS: A total of 202 questionnaires (median response rate: 50%, range 33-78%) was received. The prevalence of OAC patients among those undergoing PCI-S is mostly reported 5-10% (97%). The peri-procedural pharmacological management mostly encompasses: preprocedural OAC interruption and bridging with low-molecular-weight heparin (59%), intraprocedural administration of an unfractionated heparin bolus (81%), and use of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors on an individual basis (79%). The radial approach is reported as the preferred option (58%), as well as the implantation of bare metal stents (76%). Triple therapy (warfarin, aspirin, clopidogrel) is the most frequently prescribed (80%), generally for 1 month after bare metal stent (77%) and for at least 12 months after drug-eluting stent (60%). Throughout triple therapy, the International Normalized Ratio is mostly targeted to the lower end of the therapeutic range (77%), and gastric protection is routinely prescribed (69%), mostly by giving proton-pump inhibitors (70%). CONCLUSIONS: Among the 202 interventional cardiologists from the 8 European countries interviewed, the management of patients on OAC undergoing PCI-S appears variable and only partially adherent to currently available recommendations.