In acute coronary syndromes (ACS), a dual antiplatelet regimen with an adenosine diphosphate (ADP) receptor antagonist plus aspirin has become the cornerstone of treatment. The third-generation thienopyridine prasugrel and the cyclopentyl-triazolo-pyrimidine ticagrelor provide a greater, more rapid and consistent platelet inhibition compared to their predecessor clopidogrel. Based on their advantages over clopidogrel in two landmark studies, both drugs received a class I recommendation for their use in ACS patients with and without ST segment elevation. Due to differences in ACS populations and conditions investigated, the relative merits of ticagrelor versus prasugrel in the treatment of ACS patients with planned invasive strategy cannot be reliably estimated from independent trials. To date, no direct head-to-head comparison of ticagrelor and prasugrel in terms of clinical outcome exists. The aim of this multicenter, randomized, open-label trial is to assess whether ticagrelor is superior to prasugrel in ACS patients with planned invasive strategy.

Inflammatory processes in the vessel wall are associated with progression of atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction. Both high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP)and high on-clopidogrel treatment platelet reactivity (HPR) have been linked to an increased risk of ischaemic events after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The aim of this study was to explore the association between biomarker levels of inflammation and platelet reactivity. Stable patients (n=1,223) eligible for this study were under chronic antiplatelet treatment with aspirin and clopidogrel due to prior coronary stent placement. ADP-induced platelet aggregation (in AU*min) was measured on a Multiplate analyser. The primary outcome measure of this retrospective study was the ADP-induced platelet aggregation in patients with versus those without elevated CRP levels. Of the patients 15.5% (n=189) showed elevated CRP levels (≥5 mg/l). Platelet aggregation (median [interquartile range]) was significantly higher in patients with elevated CRP levels compared to patients with normal (<5 mg/l) CRP levels (305 [202-504] AU*min vs. 218 [144-384] AU*min; p<0.001).A multivariable linear regression model that adjusted for known predictors of HPR confirmed a significant independent association between elevated CRP levels and high ADP-induced platelet aggregation values (p=0.0002).Elevated WBC count and fibrinogen levels were also associated with higher platelet aggregation values (p<0.001 for both). In conclusion, elevated levels of CRP, WBC count and fibrinogen were significantly associated with high platelet reactivity in patients under chronic clopidogrel treatment. Whether a direct relation between platelets and inflammation exists, as well as the clinical impact of our results, warrants further investigations.

Background Early recognition of high-risk-patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) might improve their outcome by less protracted allocation to intensified therapy including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Among numerous predictors and classifications, the American European Consensus Conferenece (AECC)-and Berlin-definitions as well as the oxygenation index (OI) and the Murray-/Lung Injury Score are the most common. Most studies compared the prediction of mortality by these parameters on the day of intubation and/or diagnosis of ARDS. However, only few studies investigated prediction over time, in particular for more than three days. Objective Therefore, our study aimed at characterization of the best predictor and the best day(s) to predict 28-days-mortality within four days after intubation of patients with ARDS. Methods In 100 consecutive patients with ARDS severity according to OI (mean airway pressure*-F i O 2 /p a O 2), modified Murray-score without radiological points (Murray_mod), AECC-and Berlin-definition, were daily documented for four days after intubation. In the subgroup of 49 patients with transpulmonary thermodilution (TPTD) monitoring (PiCCO), extravascular lung water index (EVLWI) was measured daily.

Interindividual response variability to clopidogrel treatment is a well established phenomenon. In recent studies and ongoing large-scale trials where patients with high on-treatment platelet reactivity (HPR) to clopidogrel are being randomised to an intensified antiplatelet treatment, confirmation of the HPR phenotype is based on one single platelet function assessment. The stability of the HPR phenotype over time has never been investigated but should be considered crucial for justification of intensified antiplatelet treatment regimens beyond clinical trials. The goal of this study was to test for the stability of the HPR phenotype over time in clopidogrel-treated patients. Patients (n=31) under chronic clopidogrel treatment (75 mg/day) were investigated by serial adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-induced platelet aggregation assessment with multiple electrode aggregometry (MEA) on a Multiplate analyser and light transmission aggregometry (LTA) at three different time points (once per week) during monitored antiplatelet treatment. On the basis of a cut-off level approach (468 AU*min for MEA, 53% for LTA) patients were classified into patients with (n=27) or without (n=4) HPR. For MEA, the phenotype was stable in 93.5% (n=29) of patients whereas 6.5% (n=2) crossed the cut-off level. For LTA, the phenotype was stable in 68% (n=21) of patients whereas 32% (n=10) patients crossed the cut-off level (chi-square P=0.01 for comparison of phenotype stability between both assays). In conclusion, the HPR phenotype is stable over time in the majority of clopidogrel-treated patients. Comparative assessment of phenotype stability across available platelet function assays warrants further investigation.