Tirofiban can be used to treat STEMI, study shows
- Published: 31 March 2008 16:31
- Author: Richard Staines
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- Last Updated: 31 March 2008 16:31
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High doses of the drug tirofiban is as effective as abciximab in reducing ST-segment elevation in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), a study has shown.
Tirofiban, manufactured under the trade name Aggrastat by MSD, is only currently licensed in the UK for use in treatment of non-STEMI patients.
Findings from the three-year open-label trial of 745 patients with STEMI in Italy, Spain and Argentina showed at least 50% recovery from ST-elevation in 85.3% and 83.6% of patients in tirofiban and abciximab groups respectively.
Tirofiban was administered at first medical contact before arterial or sheath insertion, as a bolus of 25 ug/kg followed by an 18-24 hour infusion at 0.15 ug/kg/min.
After a follow-up period of eight months, the incidence of major adverse cardiac events was approximately 20% lower in patients treated with tirofiban compared with abciximab (9.8% compared with 12.4%).
Findings were presented at the 57th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology and were published online by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
