Clinical importance of antiplatelet drugs in cardiovascular diseases

Abstract

Platelets play an important role both in normal hemostasis and in pathological thrombus formation. Several large-scale clinical studies have proved that the inhibition of platelet aggregation results in a significant decrease in mortality and morbidity of ischemic atherothrombotic events, thus antiplatelet therapy became a key pharmacological method in prevention and treatment of such cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and peripheral arterial diseases. The present paper aims to give a brief overview of the most important antiplatelet drugs, their mechanism of action and their recommended usage in cardiovascular diseases. We also discuss possible methods to monitor the effectiveness of therapy and possible causes of therapeutic failure.