Summary
Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with aspirin (ASA) and clopidogrel (Clp) is the standard
treatment to reduce ischaemic coronary events, but in patients with end-stage renal
disease (ESRD) the efficacy of Clp remains unclear. Patients with ESRD are at higher
risk for coronary artery disease (CAD) and also their post-interventional outcome
is worse compared to patients with normal renal function. Little is known about the
influence of haemodialysis (HD) on ASA and Clp responsiveness. To assess the effect
of HD on ASA- and Clp-responsiveness in patients with documented CAD and ESRD, 31
patients with ESRD (mean age 66.5 ± 1.8 years, 23 male ) on DAPT were evaluated for
their ASA and Clp responsiveness with the Verify Now System (Accumetrics Inc.) We
measured the antiplatelet effect in all ESRD patients at three time points: T1: just
before HD; T2: directly after HD; T3: steady state on a HD free day one week after
T1. In our study at baseline 10 (32.3%) patients were ASA-low responder (ASA-LR) and
14 (45.2%) patients Clp-low responder (Clp-LR). There was a significant difference
in the PRU values before ( T1) and immediately after HD (T2) [PRU T1=234 (169; 274) vs PRUT2= 247 (199; 278); pT1,2=0.036; ]. Results were shown as median ARU T1 (25th, 75th percentile) or median PRU T1 (25th, 75th percentile). Hence HD seems to impair responsiveness
to Clp, resulting in an increase of 6.5 % Clp-LR. No significant differences in the
ARU values at the different time-points were found.
Keywords
Aspirin low responder - clopidogrel low responder - end stage renal disease - haemodialysis
- antiplatelet therapy