Heparin versus bivalirudin for percutaneous coronary intervention: has the debate come to an end?

Pooling the Evidence at the Patient Level: End of the Bivalirudin Saga?

“…Prior investigations comparing bivalirudin with a combination of heparin and GPI did not allow a clear understanding of the relative merits of bivalirudin compared with heparin, which in turn are best captured by more contemporary inves-tigations. 12 Study-level meta-analyses have attempted over the years to make the best out of bivalirudin data. 11,13,14 However, the best that such meta-analyses can actually do to explore sources of inconsistency across trials is to analyze subgroups, run sensitivity analyses, or undertake meta-regressions.…”