Aims: In patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS) treated with PCI, high (H) platelet reactivity (PR) significantly affects one-year outcome. The aim of this report was to analyse the relationships between HPR, the SYNTAX score (SS) and one-year major adverse cardiac events (MACE: cardiac death, myocardial infarction, stent thrombosis) according to diabetes mellitus (DM) status in patients included in the GEne Polymorphism, Platelet REactivity, and the Syntax Score (GEPRESS) study.
Methods and results: PR was measured using the vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) assay at three time points (before PCI, at hospital discharge and at one month after PCI), with HPR defined as >50% PR index in 1,042 patients treated with aspirin and clopidogrel for one year after PCI. Patients with DM and an SS ≥15 had the highest MACE rate between one month and one year, further increased by the presence of HPR (16.4%). On the other hand, among all patients with an SS <15, MACE rates remained low (<3%), irrespective of DM status and PR.
Conclusions: Among NSTE-ACS patients treated with PCI, the combination of DM, an SS ≥15 and HPR characterised a cohort with the highest MACE rate from one month to one year. In such high-risk patients, careful clinical monitoring and implementation of secondary prevention measures, including the use of potent P2Y12 inhibitors, are strongly advised.