Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Capstone

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Committee Chair

Trey Boyd

Abstract

Introduction: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death globally, with myocardial infarction (MI) being the biggest contributor. While aspirin monotherapy is standard for preventing ischemic events in CAD patients, dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) combining aspirin with P2Y12 inhibitors may offer greater efficacy. This review examines whether DAPT reduces MI incidence compared to aspirin monotherapy (AM), weighing the benefits against potential bleeding risks to guide optimal treatment strategies.

Methods: Inclusion criteria included studies in English, published between 2019 and 2024, randomized controlled trials (RCTs), systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. The following key terms we used in the PubMed database, "Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors" AND "Aspirin" AND "Myocardial Infarction" AND "Coronary Artery Disease” along with Boolean operators.

Results: Five studies met the inclusion criteria for this review, comprising four randomized control trials (RCTs) and one meta-analysis.

Discussion: DAPT with aspirin significantly reduces the incidence of myocardial infarction in adults with coronary artery disease compared to aspirin monotherapy. This is evident in high-risk groups such as those with diabetes and a history of PCI. However, DAPT also increases the risk of major bleeding, requiring careful patient selection and monitoring. Overall, while DAPT is beneficial for reducing MI, its use should be adjusted to the patient's risk profile, with ongoing research required to improve these strategies.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Download

Share

COinS