A new study has found that an experimental anti-blood-clotting drug may serve as a replacement for other drugs such as Plavix in the days before heart surgery.
The study authors reported that the intravenous drug cangrelor appears to have the potential to serve as a “bridge” medication for heart patients to take in the several days before procedures like coronary artery bypass grafting.
“This drug is investigational, so it is not yet an option for patients to ask about,” Dr. Gregg Stone, a heart specialist and professor of medicine at Columbia University in New York City pointed out, “but if [the U.S. Food and Drug Administration] approved it, it would likely be widely used.”
The report was published in the Jan. 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Tags: cangrelor, clotting drug, coronary artery bypass grafting, heart surgery, Plavix
