Background: The optimal antithrombotic regimen for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention in acute coronary syndrome with concomitant atrial fibrillation is largely under investigation.
Method: PUBMED and EMBASE were searched through October 2019 for randomized trials or subgroup analyses of randomized trials investigating different antithrombotic strategies in patients with atrial fibrillation and acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. We compared dual antithrombotic therapy versus triple antithrombotic therapy. Dual antithrombotic therapy was defined as vitamin K antagonist or direct oral anticoagulant plus P2Y12 inhibitor. Triple antithrombotic therapy was defined as vitamin K antagonist or direct oral anticoagulant plus dual antiplatelet therapy (aspirin plus P2Y12 inhibitor). The primary safety outcome was trial outcome was trial defined major adverse cardiovascular events.
Results: Our search identified 5 eligible subgroup analyses of randomized controlled trials that enrolled a total of 4733 patients. Dual antithrombotic therapy significantly decreased the bleeding risk when compared with triple antithrombotic therapy (hazard ratio: 0.61; 95% confidential interval [0.51-0.71], P < 0.001, I = 31%). However, there were no significant differences in major adverse cardiovascular event between dual antithrombotic therapy versus triple antithrombotic therapy (hazard ratio: 1.08; 95% confidential interval: 0.89-1.31, P = 0.44, I = 0%).
Conclusion: In patients with atrial fibrillation and acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, dual antithrombotic therapy was associated with lower bleeding risk compared with triple antithrombotic therapy while conferring similar major adverse cardiovascular event risk. Our results should be interpreted cautiously because we did not analyze the risk of stent thrombosis.