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Encyclopedia of Heart Diseases pp 87–96Cite as

Antiplatelet Agents

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Overview

Aspirin was the only antiplatelet agent available from the 1970s to the 1980s. Several agonists including thromboxane A2 (TXA2), adenosine diphosphate (ADP), thrombin, serotonin, epinephrine, and collagen can activate the platelet and provide the essentials for thrombosis to occur. Aspirin inhibits the production of thromboxane A2, a powerful platelet-aggregating agent, by its effect on the enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX). Over the past 2 decades, the appropriate use of aspirin, clopidogrel, and platelet glyco protein receptor blockers has improved mortality and morbidity in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

  • Two agents, ticagrelor and prasugrel, have been added to the therapeutic armamentarium, and hope prevails.

These cardioactive drugs are useful in the prevention of thrombi in coronary arteries and those arteries that supply the brain, but they are much less effective in preventing thrombi that occur in veins. They are beneficial in the treatment of acute myocardial...

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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cardiologist, The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Canada

    M. Gabriel Khan MD, FRCP [London], FRCP[C], FACC

  2. Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Ottawa,  ,  

    M. Gabriel Khan MD, FRCP [London], FRCP[C], FACC

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(2011). Antiplatelet Agents. In: Khan, M.G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Heart Diseases. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-219-3_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-219-3_16

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-60761-218-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-60761-219-3

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