RESUMO
The use of intravenous antiplatelet therapy during primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) is not fully standardized. The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of periprocedural intravenous administration of cangrelor or tirofiban in a contemporary ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) population undergoing PPCI. This was a multicenter prospective cohort study including consecutive STEMI patients who received cangrelor or tirofiban during PPCI at seven Italian centers. The primary effectiveness measure was the angiographic evidence of thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow < 3 after PPCI. The primary safety outcome was the in-hospital occurrence of BARC (Bleeding Academic Research Consortium) 2-5 bleedings. The study included 627 patients (median age 63 years, 79% males): 312 received cangrelor, 315 tirofiban. The percentage of history of bleeding, pulmonary edema and cardiogenic shock at admission was comparable between groups. Patients receiving cangrelor had lower ischemia time compared to tirofiban. TIMI flow before PPCI and TIMI thrombus grade were comparable between groups. At propensity score-weighted regression analysis, the risk of TIMI flow < 3 was significantly lower in patients treated with cangrelor compared to tirofiban (adjusted OR: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.30-0.53). The risk of BARC 2-5 bleeding was comparable between groups (adjusted OR:1.35; 95% CI: 0.92-1.98). These results were consistent across multiple prespecified subgroups, including subjects stratified for different total ischemia time, with no statistical interaction. In this real-world multicenter STEMI population, the use of cangrelor was associated with improved myocardial perfusion assessed by coronary angiography after PPCI without increasing clinically-relevant bleedings compared to tirofiban.
RESUMO
AIM: SARS-CoV-2 infection has been divided by scientific opinion into three phases: the first as asymptomatic or slightly symptomatic and the second and the third with greater severity, characterized by a hyperinflammatory and fibrotic state, responsible for lung lesions, in some cases fatal. The development of antiviral drugs directed against SARS-CoV-2 and effective vaccines is progressing; meanwhile, the best pharmacological objective is related to the management of all the complications caused by this viral infection, mainly controlling the inflammatory and fibrotic state and preventing the infection from moving into the most serious phases. SUBJECT AND METHOD: Describe the scientific rationale related to the use of an antifibrotic therapy with pirfenidone, as monotherapy and/or in combination with anti-inflammatory drugs to manage and control complications of SARS-CoV-2 infection. RESULTS: Based on the scientific literature and epidemiological results and considering the pathophysiological, biological, and molecular characteristics of SARS-CoV-2, an antifibrotic drug such as pirfenidone as monotherapy or in combination with anti-inflammatory drugs can be (acting early, at the right doses and at the right time) therapeutically effective to avoid serious complications during viral infection. The same approach can also be effective as postinfection therapy in patients with residual pulmonary fibrotic damage. Management of inflammation and fibrotic status with a combination therapy of pirfenidone and IL-6 or IL-1 inhibitors could represent a pharmacological synergy with added value. CONCLUSION: In this article, we consider the role of antifibrotic therapy with pirfenidone in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection on going or in the stage of postinfection with pulmonary fibrotic consequences. The scientific rationale for its use is also described.
