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The life expectancy of heart attack patients who have not had angioplasty treatment can be greatly improved with use of the drug Plavix, research has shown.
An 18-month study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the first to look at the treatment, found that 28.1% of a group treated with Plavix died compared to 32.2% of those who had not been given the drug.
The statistically significant difference could have “considerable clinical impact”, researchers said.
Heart failure is a disease in which the heart is unable to pump enough blood around the body. It can be alleviated by angioplasty, a non-surgical procedure that can help clear blocked arteries.
Plavix, known generically as clopidogrel, is made by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
Copyright Press Association 2010
Journal of the American College of Cardiology
