Objective: The maintenance dose of prasugrel (PRAS) for neuroendovascular treatment requires much research. We report the antiplatelet effect of PRAS measured by VerifyNow P2Y12 reaction units (PRUs) in patients during the perioperative period of neuroendovascular treatment.
Methods: Between January 2017 and January 2023, 230 patients who underwent endovascular treatment for unruptured intracranial aneurysms or carotid artery stenosis at our institution were retrospectively identified. Patients received dual antiplatelet therapy with 100 mg aspirin (ASA) and 75 mg clopidogrel (CLP)/day (CLP group, n = 186) or 100 mg ASA and 3.75 mg PRAS/day (PRAS group, n = 44) 2 weeks before the procedures. The PRU value was compared between the CLP and PRAS groups. In the study, we defined 95≦PRU < 208 as the optimal range. Perioperative complications within seven days of surgery were also analyzed.
Results: The mean value of PRU was significantly low in the PRAS group (179.13 ± 66.03 in CLP vs. 154.75 ± 54.01 in PRAS, p = 0.024). The proportion of the patients who exhibited 95≦PRU < 208 was significantly higher in the PRAS group (55.4% vs. 72.7%, p = 0.036). Ischemic and hemorrhagic complication rates were not significantly different between the CLP and PRAS groups (7.6% vs. 0%, p = 0.076; 4.7% vs. 0%, p = 0.361). The ischemic complication rate was higher in patients with a PRU > 208 than in those with PRU < 208 (12.5% vs. 3.8%, p = 0.044). The hemorrhagic complication rate was not significantly different between the PRU < 95 and 95≦PRU groups (8.4% vs. 3.2%, p = 0.224).
Conclusions: Maintenance dose PRAS further decreased the PRU value and reached the optimal range in more cases than CLP during the perioperative period of neuroendovascular treatment. Ischemic complications significantly increased in the 208 < PRU group.
Keywords: Antiplatelet drug; clopidogrel; endovascular procedures; prasugrel; stroke.