Cheaper drug more effective for heart attack treatment
The results of the HEAT-PPCI trial suggest that systematic use of heparin rather than bivalirudin after primary percutaneous coronary intervention.
A cheaper drug used to prevent blood clot formation during emergency heart attack treatment is more effective than its more popular and expensive counterpart.Heparin could result in improved outcomes (such as a reduced rate of repeat heart attacks), compared to the other drug tested, bivalirudin, which is in widespread use in high-income countries and is around 400 times more expensive than heparin, a research showed.
The results of the HEAT-PPCI trial suggest that systematic use of heparin rather than bivalirudin after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) – the most commonly used treatment for heart attack, which unblocks the arteries carrying blood to the heart – could save health services substantial sums of money, at the same time as potentially improving patient outcomes. Overall rates of major adverse cardiac events were significantly lower in the group who received heparin, although the rates of adverse events were low, as expected, in both groups.
The study appeared in journal The Lancet.
Source: Khaleej Times
Published: 07 July 2014
Category: Features, Pharmaceuticals
