April 3, 2015Cardiology in Review
Usefulness of Platelet Function Tests to Predict Bleeding With Antithrombotic Medications
Key result
Platelet function tests fail to predict bleeding risk on antithrombotics, though thrombin potential shows promise.
Why the study?
Do platelet function tests accurately predict bleeding risk in individual patients on antithrombotic medications?
Population
Patients treated with potent antiplatelet agents and novel oral anticoagulants for cardiovascular disease…
Design
Review
Authors
Discussion
Loading...
Member takes
Implication
Platelet function tests should not guide individual antithrombotic decisions; leaves open whether thrombin potential assays can enable personalized bleeding risk assessment.
Structured PICO
Do platelet function tests accurately predict bleeding risk in individual patients on antithrombotic medications?
P
Population
Patients treated with potent antiplatelet agents and novel oral anticoagulants for cardiovascular disease and thromboprophylaxis in atrial fibrillation
E
Exposure
Platelet function tests (PFTs) including VerifyNow, vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein-phosphorylation assay, calibrated automated thrombogram, and point-of-care global thrombosis test
O
Outcome
Prediction of bleeding risksafety
Standard platelet function tests are insufficient for predicting individual bleeding risk on antithrombotic therapy, highlighting the need for tests that assess endogenous thrombin potential.
Limitations
- Most platelet function tests fail to assess the contribution of thrombin because they employ anticoagulated blood.
Cite This Study
Gorog et al. (2015) conducted a review in Cardiovascular disease and atrial fibrillation. Platelet function tests was evaluated. Platelet function tests do not allow identification of individual patients at risk of bleeding on antithrombotic therapy, though tests measuring endogenous thrombin potential show promise.