Guided Antithrombotic Therapy: Current Status and Future Research Direction

Circ.ahajournals.org: 9/25/12

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) convened a working group to develop a research agenda to enhance the understanding and effectiveness of antithrombotic therapy. The working group brought together cardiologists, hematologists, interventionalists, clinical trialists, genetic epidemiologists, basic scientists, and other stakeholders to review coagulation, platelet activation and aggregation, and antithrombotic therapy;  issues surrounding antithrombotic therapy failure – how to define it, how to predict and diagnose it, available tests and how to optimize them;  the factors that affect the efficacy, safety, and predictability of antithrombotic therapies;  how to optimize antithrombotic therapy, improve on present interventions, and individually tailor therapy to increase efficacy and safety and to avoid failure; and  the clinical applicability and cost-effectiveness of individually tailored antithrombotic therapy based on functional and genetic testing. Read More