Low-Dose Ticagrelor in Patients With High Ischemic Risk and Previous Myocardial Infarction: A Multicenter Prospective Real-World Observational Study

Prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy after 12 months in patients with previous myocardial infarction (MI) is attractive to reduce long-term ischemic complications. In the PEGASUS-TIMI 54, the use of low-dose ticagrelor (60 mg b.i.d.) plus aspirin after 12 months from MI reduced the risk of ischemic events, at the price of limited increase on bleeding complications. However, data on the use of low-dose ticagrelor in real-world practice lack. We aim at providing data on prescription/eligibility criteria and outcomes in patients receiving low-dose ticagrelor in the real-world setting. We enrolled consecutive patients eligible for ticagrelor 60 mg according to Italian national regulation in 3 high-volume centers and collected 1-year outcomes. The primary objective of the study is to generate real-world data about clinical characteristics, eligibility criteria, major adverse cardiovascular events, bleeding, and adverse event in patients receiving low-dose ticagrelor from our cohort. One hundred eighty-one patients were consecutively enrolled with a median follow-up of 18 months. The most used and the least used prescription criteria were multivessel coronary disease (72.4%) and chronic kidney disease (15.5%), respectively. At 1-year follow-up, the rate of major adverse cardiovascular events was 4.97%; of these, 3.86% of patients had a MI, and 1.1% had a stroke/transient ischemic attack, whereas no major bleeding occurred. In conclusion, in a real-world study, including patients with previous MI, low-dose ticagrelor for prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy showed to be effective and safe, with no major bleeding occurring at follow-up.