LAUSR

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is associated with heightened ischemic and bleeding risk in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). With this study from real-life patients, we try to analyze the balance between ischemic and bleeding risk during treatment with dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after an ACS according to the presence or not of PAD. The data analyzed in this study were obtained from the fusion of 3 clinical registries of ACS patients: BleeMACS (2004–2013), CardioCHUVI/ARRITXACA (2010–2016) and RENAMI (2013–2016). All 3 registries include consecutive patients discharged after an ACS with DAPT and undergoing PCI. The merged data set contain 26,076 patients. A propensity-matched analysis was performed to match the baseline characteristics of patients with and without PAD. The impact of prior PAD in the ischemic and bleeding risk was assessed by a competitive risk analysis, using a Fine and Gray regression model, with death being the competitive event. For ischemic risk we have considered a new acute myocardial infarction (AMI), whereas for bleeding risk we have considered major bleeding (MB) defined as bleeding requiring hospital admission. Follow-up time was censored by DAPT suspension/withdrawal. From the 26,076 ACS patients, 1,600 have PAD (6.1%). Patients with PAD were older, and with more cardiovascular risk factors. DAPT with prasugrel/ticagrelor was less frequently prescribed in patients with PAD in comparison with the rest of the population (8.2% vs 22.8%, p<0.001). During a mean follow-up of 12.2±4.8 months, 964 patients died (3.7%), and 640 AMI (2.5%) and 685 MB (2.6%) were reported. After propensity-score matching, we obtained two matched groups of 1,591 patients. Patients with PAD showed a significant higher risk of both AMI (sHR 2.17, 95% CI 1.51–3.10, p<0.001) and MB (sHR 1.51, 95% CI 1.07–2.12, p=0.018), in comparison with those without PAD. The cumulative incidence of AMI was 63.9 and 29.8 per 1,000 patients/year in patients with and without PAD, respectively. The cumulative incidence of MB was 55.9 and 37.6 per 1,000 patients/year in patients with and without PAD, respectively. The rate difference per 1,000 patient-years for AMI between patients with and without PAD was +34.1 (95% CI 30.1–38.1), and for MB +18.3 (16.1–20.4). The net balance between ischemic and bleeding events comparing patients with and without PAD was positive (+15.8 per 1,000 patients/year, 95% CI 9.7–22.0). PAD was associated with higher ischemic and bleeding risk after hospital discharge for ACS treated with DAPT. However, the balance between ischemic and bleeding risk was positive for patients with PAD in comparison with patients without PAD. As summary, ACS patients with PAD had an ischemic risk greater than the bleeding risk.