Volume 32, Nº 5, September and October 2019
DOI: http://www.dx.doi.org/10.5935/2359-4802.20190070
EDITORIAL
Antiplatelet Therapy for Elderly Patients: When Less May Be More
Roberto Esporcatte
Fernando Oswaldo Dias Rangel
Abstract
In the last two decades, double antiplatelet therapy, together with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), has become a cornerstone of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) treatment and its use is recommended as early as possible, although there are many unanswered questions about the efficacy and safety of loading dose (LD), best moment of administration, clinical scenarios and, especially, its use in elderly patients. Despite the fact that elderly patients represent approximately 30% of the population admitted for ACS, they are virtually excluded from large clinical trials, receive fewer diagnostic and therapeutic approaches and have more ischemic and hemorrhagic complications.1
Keywords: Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors/therapeutic use; Aged; Hemorrhage; Acute Coronary Syndrome.