Anti-Clotting Drug Found to Aid High-Risk Angioplasty Patients
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From Times staff and wire reports
High-risk angioplasty patients who receive a one-time treatment with a new anti-clotting drug still show benefits three years after the procedures. Earlier studies have shown that the effects of the medicine, called ReoPro, last at least six months. But researchers were surprised to see fewer deaths after three years because patients’ underlying heart disease was expected to eventually wipe out any survival benefit.
In the latest study, reported in the Aug. 13 Journal of the American Medical Assn., 7% of those getting ReoPro during their angioplasties had died after three years, compared to 9% getting dummy injections. But the genetically engineered drug’s high cost--$1,350 per dose--continues to limit its use.
