US Pharm. 2013;38(9):11.
Durham, NC—Researchers at Duke Medicine, in examining a substudy of a large clinical trial comparing prasugrel with clopidogrel for management of acute coronary syndromes, have determined that in certain heart patients aged >75 years, a half-dose of the antiplatelet drug prasugrel works as well as the standard dose of clopidogrel. These patients are highly vulnerable to bleeding and other side effects if therapies are dosed improperly. In the analysis, which included more than 2,000 elderly patients, a smaller dosage of prasugrel (5 mg daily) presented no greater risk of bleeding than the commonly used 75-mg dosage of clopidogrel. Dedicated studies are necessary to further clarify the appropriate use of anticlotting agents in elderly patients.
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