You are on page 1of 8

European Heart Journal Supplements (2008) 10 (Supplement C), C14–C21

doi:10.1093/eurheartj/sun002

Clinical benefit and practical use of fondaparinux

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/eurheartjsupp/article-abstract/10/suppl_C/C14/395007 by guest on 11 September 2019


in the invasive management of patients
with acute coronary syndromes
Shamir R. Mehta*
Interventional Cardiology, Hamilton Health Sciences, General Division, 237 Barton Street East, Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada L6K 1B8

KEYWORDS In patients with high-risk non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTE-ACS), an


Acute coronary syndromes; invasive management strategy has been found to be superior to a conservative strat-
Anticoagulant; egy. In the real world, 50% of patients treated with an invasive strategy require a
Fondaparinux; percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedure, whereas the remaining 40–50%
Low-molecular-weight
are treated medically and a small proportion (,10%) undergo coronary artery
heparins;
bypass graft surgery. Therefore, anti-thrombotic drugs need to be both safe and effec-
Percutaneous coronary
intervention;
tive when started early in a broad range of patients with ACS, regardless of ultimate
Unfractionated heparin revascularization status. Fondaparinux is the first selective inhibitor of factor Xa
approved for use across the whole spectrum of patients with ACS. In patients with
NSTE-ACS in the OASIS-5 study, upstream treatment with fondaparinux was found to
have superior net clinical benefit compared with enoxaparin in patients undergoing
PCI. Fondaparinux reduced death, myocardial infarction, stroke, or major bleeding
by 22% compared with enoxaparin (P ¼ 0.004). Even in those undergoing early PCI
(i.e. within the first 24 h), there was a 24% relative risk reduction in favour of fonda-
parinux (P ¼ 0.035). The main benefit was a large 54% reduction in major bleeding
(P , 0.001), which was achieved with near identical rates of ischaemic events (6.3
vs. 6.2%). Catheter thrombus occurred with very low incidence in both the fondapar-
inux and the enoxaparin groups and was virtually eliminated in both groups with
adjunctive unfractionated heparin (UFH) administered in the catheterization labora-
tory just prior to PCI. In the fondaparinux group, the mean dose of UFH was about
50 U/kg. On the basis of these data and the overall results of the OASIS-5 trial, the
experts of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and of
the European Society of Cardiology gave fondaparinux a class I recommendation for
use in patients with NSTE-ACS undergoing invasive strategy. In practice, fondaparinux
is easy to use (fixed dose of 2.5 mg once daily for all patients) and is associated with
improved patient outcomes, including those patients managed with an invasive
strategy.

Introduction including those managed with an invasive strategy and


those managed with a conservative strategy.1,2 In
Anticoagulation is a standard of care for the management patients with high-risk non-ST-segment elevation ACS
of all patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), (NSTE-ACS), an invasive management strategy has been
found to be superior to a conservative strategy.3,4 In
* Corresponding author. Tel: þ1 905 521 2631; fax: þ1 905 527 4463. the real world, about half of all the patients with
E-mail address: smehta@mcmaster.ca NSTE-ACS managed with an invasive strategy will

Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. & The Author 2008.
For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.
Clinical benefit and practical use of fondaparinux C15

receive a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)


procedure.5,6 When considering those also treated with
an initial conservative strategy (e.g. patients with
advanced age or co-morbidities, patient preference),
the true rate of PCI in the real world is closer to about
30%. Since it is not known at the time of patient first
contact whether a given patient referred for early angio-
graphy will receive a PCI or not, anti-thrombotic strat-
egies must be both safe and effective in a broad range
of patients.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/eurheartjsupp/article-abstract/10/suppl_C/C14/395007 by guest on 11 September 2019


Unfractionated heparin (UFH) has been the traditional
anticoagulant of choice in patients with NSTE-ACS, but its
administration requires an intravenous infusion, it may
cause heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, and its anti-
coagulant effect shows a large intra- and inter-individual Figure 1 Comparison of percutaneous coronary interventions in OASIS-5
and EuroHeart Survey.5
variability, necessitating regular monitoring of the acti-
vated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). Thus, although
it is useful in the catheterization laboratory because it
can be given as a single bolus, monitored easily using
the activated clotting time (ACT) and reversed if necess- Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients undergoing
percutaneous coronary intervention in OASIS-515
ary using protamine sulphate, it is not an ideal agent for
upstream therapy. Enoxaparin was shown to be superior Parameter Fondaparinux Enoxaparin
to UFH in patients undergoing mainly a conservative (n ¼ 3134) (n ¼ 3104)
strategy,7,8 but in patients treated with an invasive strat-
egy, it was no better than UFH and resulted in higher Age (years), mean 64.6 64.5
rates of severe bleeding complications in the SYNERGY Female (%) 28.3 30.9
trial.9,10 Even in those patients who did not switch thera- Troponin/ 79.0 80.3
pies, in a recent meta-analysis by Petersen et al.,11 enox- CKMB.ULN (%)
aparin was still associated with higher bleeding rates ST depression 42.3 39.2
1 mm (%)
than UFH. Further, there was a significant hazard to
T wave inversion 21.3 22.0
using enoxaparin alone in those undergoing early PCI in 2 mm (%)
the SYNERGY trial, making this a sub-optimal agent in Prior heart failure (%) 7.2 7.4
this setting.12 Prior myocardial 22.6 20.0
Fondaparinux is the first selective inhibitor of factor Xa infarction (%)
approved for use across the whole spectrum of patients Diabetes (%) 23.5 23.1
with ACS.13 In the OASIS-5 trial, fondaparinux was found Prior CABG (%) 9.0 8.4
to be non-inferior to enoxaparin early, but reduced mor- Prior PCI (%) 16.9 16.1
tality and ischaemic events relative to enoxaparin at Lesion location (%)
30 days and 6 months.14 It was also substantially safer, Left main coronary 1.0 1.5
artery
with a reduction in major bleeding of about one-half.
Left anterior 41.5 42.0
The overwhelming majority of patients (.14 000) in the ascending coronary
OASIS-5 trial were treated with an invasive strategy and artery
about half of these underwent PCI. In this article, we Circumflex artery 26.4 25.9
review the data for fondaparinux in patients undergoing Right coronary 27.7 27.1
an invasive strategy15 and provide practical advice on artery
how to incorporate fondaparinux into routine clinical Saphenous vein graft 3.3 3.4
practice.
CABG, coronary arterial bypass graft surgery; PCI, percutaneous
coronary intervention; ULN, upper limit of normal.

Results in patients undergoing percutaneous


coronary intervention: superior net benefit
of fondaparinux 24 h after randomization in 2834 patients. These data
closely reflect current European practice5 (Figure 1).
Out of 20 078 patients enrolled in OASIS-5, 14 206 The baseline characteristics were well matched
patients underwent heart catheterization and 12 715 between the two randomized treatment groups
during the study drug administration period; this pro- (Table 1). Overall, these patients represented an inter-
cedure was performed in 8919 patients within the first mediate to a high-risk population; they exhibited high-
72 h after randomization, respectively. A total of 6238 risk features indicating the need for an early invasive
patients underwent PCI during the study drug adminis- strategy according to the European Society of Cardiology
tration period; the procedure was performed within (ESC) guidelines1 (Figure 2).
C16 S.R. Mehta

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/eurheartjsupp/article-abstract/10/suppl_C/C14/395007 by guest on 11 September 2019


Figure 2 Criteria for early invasive management according to the European Society of Cardiology Guidelines in patients enrolled in OASIS-5. Asterisk
indicates that data were not available to assess two of the criteria: reduced left ventricular function (ejection fraction ,35%) and early post-infarction
angina. CABG, coronary arterial bypass graft surgery; ESC, European Society of Cardiology; PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention.

6.6%; hazard ratio (95% confidence interval): 0.55


Table 2 Concomitant medications in patients undergoing (0.35–0.84); P , 0.001] after the procedure.
percutaneous coronary intervention in OASIS-515 The bleeding reduction observed in patients treated
with fondaparinux was consistent irrespective of age:
Medication Fondaparinux Enoxaparin
(n ¼ 3134) (n ¼ 3104) the hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) was 0.49
(0.37–0.66) (P , 0.001) and 0.58 (0.34–0.99) (P ¼
Aspirin (%) 98.6 98.9 0.047) in favour of fondaparinux in patients 65 years
Thienopyridine (%) 91.1 92.3 and ,65 years, respectively. Fondaparinux also reduced
GP IIb/IIIa 40.4 38.8 major bleeding compared with enoxaparin irrespective
antagonist (%) of GPIIb/IIIa inhibitors or thienopyridine use. The trans-
b-blocker (%) 88.1 89.5 radial approach was associated with fewer major bleed-
ACE/ARB (%) 73.7 73.8 ing complications than the trans-femoral approach
Statin (%) 83.7 83.6
(1.6 vs. 3.5%, P , 0.003), but fondaparinux markedly
ACE, angiotensin-converting enzyme-inhibitor; ARB, angiotensin reduced major bleeding when compared with enoxaparin
receptor blocker. regardless of the arterial vascular access (Figure 3).16
Furthermore, the net clinical benefit in favour of fon-
daparinux was maintained at Days 30 and 180, highlight-
Subcutaneous fondaparinux and enoxaparin were given ing the clinical superiority of fondaparinux over
for a mean (+SD) of 2.4 (1.8) days and 2.6 (1.8) prior to enoxaparin in PCI patients over the long term.
PCI, respectively. The median duration of therapy in
patients undergoing PCI was 2.5 days. The study drug
Fondaparinux in very early percutaneous
was stopped either because of clinical stabilization, a
revascularization procedure or discharge from hospital.
coronary intervention
Overall, 99% of patients received aspirin and 92% a
Consistent results were obtained in the subgroup of
thienopyridine (Table 2).
patients in whom PCI was performed within 24 h after
At Day 9, death, myocardial infarction, or stroke in
randomization (Table 3). At Day 9, death, myocardial
patients undergoing PCI occurred with a similar fre-
infarction or stroke occurred with a similar frequency in
quency in the fondaparinux and the enoxaparin group
the fondaparinux and the enoxaparin group. However,
(Table 3). Taken individually, the rate of each of these
there was a substantial reduction (52%, P , 0.001) in
outcomes was also similar in the two groups. In contrast,
major bleeding in fondaparinux-treated patients. Overall,
major bleeding was reduced by 54% (P , 0.001) in
the net clinical composite of death, myocardial
fondaparinux-treated patients. There was a similarly
infarction, stroke, or major bleeding was significantly
large reduction in the rate of minor and total bleeding
(P ¼ 0.035) lower in the fondaparinux group than in the
with fondaparinux. Overall, the net clinical composite
enoxaparin group.
of death, myocardial infarction, stroke, or major bleed-
ing was significantly (P ¼ 0.004) lower in the fondapari-
nux group than in the enoxaparin group. Rapid emergence of bleeding benefit
Whereas the restarting of the study drug after PCI did with fondaparinux
not increase the rate of major bleeding, fondaparinux
was superior to enoxaparin in reducing major bleeding The safety benefit of fondaparinux in terms of bleeding
irrespective of whether the study drug was restarted risk appeared as early as the day of randomization (i.e.
[1.9 vs. 4.4%; hazard ratio (95% confidence interval): within hours of the administration of the first dose of
0.42 (0.29–0.60); P , 0.001] or not restarted [3.7 vs. study drug), indicating that, even with very short
Clinical benefit and practical use of fondaparinux C17

Table 3 Clinical outcomes at Day 9 in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention in OASIS-515

All PCI patients Fondaparinux Enoxaparin Hazard ratio (95% CI) P-value
(n ¼ 3105) (n ¼ 3072)

Death, myocardial infarction, stroke, major 8.2% 10.4% 0.78 (0.67–0.93) 0.004
bleeding
Death, myocardial infarction, stroke 6.3% 6.2% 1.03 (0.84–1.25) 0.79
Major bleeding 2.4% 5.1% 0.46 (0.35–0.61) ,0.001

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/eurheartjsupp/article-abstract/10/suppl_C/C14/395007 by guest on 11 September 2019


Early PCI (i.e. within 24 h of randomization) Fondaparinux Enoxaparin
(n ¼ 1414) (n ¼ 1420)

Death, myocardial infarction, stroke, major 7.3% 9.5% 0.76 (0.59–0.98) 0.035
bleeding
Death, myocardial infarction, stroke 5.3% 5.4% 0.98 (0.71–1.34) 0.89
Major bleeding 2.3% 4.9% 0.48 (0.31–0.72) ,0.001

CI, confidence interval; PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention.

dose of UFH was 100 U/kg when no GPIIb/IIIa inhibitor


was used and 65 U/kg when a GPIIb/IIIa inhibitor was
administered. Of note, the addition of UFH to the enox-
aparin group 6 h after the last subcutaneous enoxaparin
administration lowered the rate of abrupt/threatened
vessel closure compared with those undergoing PCI with
enoxaparin alone (4.3% with UFHþenoxaparin vs. 6.2%
with enoxaparin alone, P ¼ 0.026). Importantly, the use
of UFH at least 6 h after the last subcutaneous enoxa-
parin injection did not increase the risk of major bleeding
in the enoxaparin group (Figure 4).
During the trial, catheter thrombosis was reported to
occur in a small number of patients. To reduce this
Figure 3 Major bleeding at Day 9 in patients undergoing percutaneous
coronary intervention according to arterial access site.16 event, the Operations Committee (without any knowl-
edge of the number of catheter thromboses by random-
ized group) reminded the centres that they were
durations of therapy, fondaparinux was safer in terms of
allowed to give open-label UFH prior to PCI in addition
bleeding risk than enoxaparin (Table 4). On subsequent
to protocol-mandated study drug. Moreover, to record
days, the occurrence of major bleeding remained sub-
this issue in a more systematic way, the case report
stantially lower with fondaparinux compared with enoxa-
forms were amended to capture all cases of catheter
parin. These results support the administration of
thrombus and whether open-label UFH was given in the
fondaparinux in patients with NSTE-ACS who are dis-
catheterization laboratory prior to PCI. These data
charged early from hospital.
were routinely collected in the final 1758 patients under-
going PCI. For the first time, information on the occur-
rence of catheter thrombosis was systematically
Minimization of catheter thrombus risk with collected in a randomized trial.
unfractionated heparin as adjunct Overall, catheter thrombosis occurred very rarely in
both groups (but significantly more with fondaparinux)
In the initial protocol, patients randomized to fondapar- before the implementation of the amendment recom-
inux underwent PCI without adjunct UFH. In contrast, in mending the open-label use of UFH (Table 5). Of note,
patients randomized to enoxaparin, no additional study previous studies also showed that catheter thromboses
drug was given if PCI was performed within 6 h of the may occur in enoxaparin-treated patients.18–20 In the
last study drug injection. When the interval was more fondaparinux group, the occurrence of this event was vir-
than 6 h, UFH was used in the enoxaparin arm. This strat- tually eliminated after the amendment with the use of
egy was used since enoxaparin is not approved for use in open-label UFH at an average dose of 47 U/kg. Catheter
PCI.17 Moreover, neither the ESC nor the American thrombus occurred in 10 fondaparinux-treated patients
College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/ following the protocol amendment; nine events occurred
AHA) guidelines recommend its use in PCI.1,2 So far, no when no UFH was given prior to PCI and the remaining
anticoagulant has been demonstrated to be more effec- case occurred in a patient who received a very low
tive than UFH for anticoagulation during PCI. Thus, in dose of open-label UFH (570 U or 5.0 U/kg). Importantly,
enoxaparin patients recruited in OASIS-5, the additional the addition of open-label UFH did not increase the
C18 S.R. Mehta

Table 4 Incidence of major bleeding events according to the day after randomization in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary
intervention in OASIS-515

Days after randomization Fondaparinux (n ¼ 3105) Enoxaparin (n ¼ 3072) Relative risk P-value

Same day 0.2% 0.5% 0.35 0.037


1 0.7% 1.7% 0.40 ,0.001
2 1.1% 2.8% 0.40 ,0.001
3 1.4% 3.6% 0.40 ,0.001
4 1.7% 4.0% 0.42 ,0.001

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/eurheartjsupp/article-abstract/10/suppl_C/C14/395007 by guest on 11 September 2019


5 1.8% 4.3% 0.42 ,0.001
6 2.0% 4.7% 0.42 ,0.001
7 2.2% 5.0% 0.43 ,0.001
8 2.4% 5.0% 0.45 ,0.001

infarction/stroke were 14.3 and 16.0%, whereas the


rates of major bleeding were 2.4 and 3.3%. These
results are therefore very consistent with the OASIS-5
data in PCI patients and corroborate the statement that
it is reasonable to recommend the intravenous use of
UFH during PCI at a dose between 50 and 100 U/kg in fon-
daparinux patients in order to minimize the risk of cath-
eter thrombus without impairing the clinical benefit of
the drug.

Integrating fondaparinux into daily practice


Figure 4 Major bleeding 48 h after percutaneous coronary intervention
in patients managed with an invasive
according to the use of protocol-specified unfractionated heparin in the strategy
enoxaparin group.15 If percutaneous coronary intervention was performed
within 6 h of the last subcutaneous enoxaparin dose, no additional UFH In the latest guidelines established by the ACC/AHA and
was given. If percutaneous coronary intervention was performed 6 h
after the last subcutaneous enoxaparin dose, UFH was administered for
the ESC, fondaparinux was recommended with a class I
the procedure. PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention; UFH, unfractio- recommendation in patients undergoing invasive
nated heparin. strategy.1,2
Figures 5 and 6 show a flow diagram on the rec-
ommended use of fondaparinux in patients with
bleeding rate in the fondaparinux group (1.3% with open- NSTE-ACS, with invasive strategy in higher-risk patients
label UFH vs. 3.3% with no open-label UFH) and did not and conservative strategy in low-risk patients.
influence the safety benefit of fondaparinux over In patients requiring primary PCI for STEMI or urgent
enoxaparin. PCI within minutes to hours (e.g. shock), UFH is
Other data showed that whether examining the inci- recommended for initial treatment. All other NSTE-ACS
dence of local PCI complications þ major adverse patients, for whom the decision to undergo conservative
cardiac events (MACE), or of local PCI complications þ or invasive management is pending, should receive initial
major bleeding, there was a consistent net clinical treatment by fondaparinux 2.5 mg subcutaneously.1,2
benefit in favour of fondaparinux compared with enoxa-
parin in PCI patients.
The data of OASIS-6 trial in patients with ST-elevation Percutaneous coronary intervention procedures
acute myocardial infarction (STEMI) confirmed the fact
that adding UFH to fondaparinux patients undergoing If a patient treated with fondaparinux is scheduled to
PCI is effective for preventing catheter thrombosis and undergo PCI, the transition to the catheterization labora-
safe in terms of bleeding risk.21 A total of 250 fondapar- tory is simple in practice. In situations where a patient
inux patients (corresponding to targeted patients in the has on-going chest pain and haemodynamic instability,
current European labelling of fondaparinux) and 239 there is no need to delay the procedure—in this scenario
control patients (receiving UFH or placebo upstream of early PCI, patients should proceed to the catheteriza-
PCI) underwent a PCI other than primary PCI (including tion laboratory and UFH should be administered intrave-
rescue PCI, routine PCI and PCI for recurrent ischaemia); nously in the catheterization laboratory at a standard
all of them received UFH as recommended prior to the dose (50–100 U/kg). If patients have stabilized initially,
procedure and no catheter thrombosis was reported in catheterization can be delayed and if PCI is needed, stan-
either group. The respective rates of death/myocardial dard UFH should be administered as a bolus prior to the
Clinical benefit and practical use of fondaparinux C19

Table 5 Clinical outcomes at Day 30 according to the use of open label unfractionated heparin given in the catheterization
laboratory prior to percutaneous coronary intervention in OASIS-515

Outcome No open-label UFH prior to PCI Open-label UFH prior to PCI

Fondaparinux Enoxaparin Hazard ratio Fondaparinux Enoxaparin Hazard ratio


(n ¼ 793) (n ¼ 810) (95% CI) (n ¼ 75) (n ¼ 80) (95% CI)

Catheter thrombus, 9 (1.1) 4 (0.5) 2.30 (0.71–7.4) 1 (1.3)a 0 –


n (%)

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/eurheartjsupp/article-abstract/10/suppl_C/C14/395007 by guest on 11 September 2019


Death, myocardial 57 (7.2) 60 (7.4) 0.97 (0.68–1.40) 3 (4.0) 5 (6.3) 0.62 (0.15–2.61)
infarction, stroke,
n (%)
Major bleeding, n (%) 26 (3.3) 35 (4.3) 0.75 (0.45–1.25) 1 (1.3) 5 (6.2) 0.21 (0.02–1.79)
Death, myocardial 80 (10.1) 90 (11.1) 0.90 (0.67–1.22) 4 (5.3) 9 (11.2) 0.45 (0.14–1.47)
infarction, stroke,
major bleeding,
n (%)

CI, confidence interval; PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention; UFH, unfractionated heparin.
a
This event occurred in a patient who received 5 U/kg of UFH vs. a mean dose of 47 U/kg in the total PCI group.

Figure 5 Evidence-based risk stratification to target therapies in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes. Asterisk indicates class I
recommendations in the guidelines established by the ACC/AHA (Level of evidence B) and ESC. CHF, congestive heart failure; PCI, percutaneous coronary
intervention; TRS, TIMI risk score; UFH, unfractionated heparin.

Figure 6 Fondaparinux in practice in patients with non-ST-elevation acute coronary syndromes undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. UA,
unstable angina; NSTEMI, non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction.
C20 S.R. Mehta

procedure at a dose of 50–100 U/kg. The dose of 50 U/kg anticoagulation that should bring significant reductions
of UFH may be preferred in fondaparinux patients who in bleeding and improve the overall prognosis of patients
were co-administered GPIIb/IIIa antagonists. However, with ACS who are managed both with an invasive and a
it must be underlined that no change to current practice non-invasive approach.
is needed concerning the use and dose of GPIIb/IIIa
inhibitors. Thus, for interventional cardiologists accus- Conflict of interest: Consultant and/or research grants and/or
tomed to using UFH for the PCI procedure, adding UFH honoraria from GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Boston Scienti-
on top of fondaparinux for the PCI procedure does not fic, Abbott Vascular, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Oryx,
represent a significant change from their routine prac- Astrazeneca.
tice. Bivalirudin may be an option instead of UFH and a

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/eurheartjsupp/article-abstract/10/suppl_C/C14/395007 by guest on 11 September 2019


GPIIb/IIIa antagonist in patients treated upstream with
fondaparinux based on the low bleeding risk with both
agents, but no data have been published using this References
novel combination (trials are on-going). 1. Bassand JP, Hamm CW, Ardissino D, Boersma E, Budaj A, Fernández-
Avilés F, Fox KA, Hasdai D, Ohman EM, Wallentin L, Wijns W ESC
Sheath removal procedures Committee for Practice Guidelines (CPG), Vahanian A, Camm J,
De Caterina R, Dean V, Dickstein K, Filippatos G, Kristensen SD,
Widimsky P, McGregor K, Sechtem U, Tendera M, Hellemans I,
If a closure device is used, or in the case of radial access,
Gomez JL, Silber S, Funck-Brentano C, Kristensen SD, Andreotti F,
sheath removal should be immediate; if no closure device Benzer W, Bertrand M, Betriu A, De Caterina R, DeSutter J, Falk V,
is used, sheath removal should be performed at least 6 h Ortiz AF, Gitt A, Hasin Y, Huber K, Kornowski R, Lopez-Sendon J,
after last fondaparinux subcutaneous dose. As with other Morais J, Nordrehaug JE, Silber S, Steg PG, Thygesen K, Tubaro M,
anticoagulants, the administration of fondaparinux may Turpie AG, Verheugt F, Windecker S. Task Force for Diagnosis and
Treatment of Non-ST-Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes
be stopped within 24 h of the invasive procedure, but of European Society of Cardiology. Guidelines for the diagnosis and
this may be left to the physician’s discretion. If restarted treatment of non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes.
after the PCI, the next fondaparinux injection should be The Task Force for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Non-ST-Segment
performed 2 h after sheath removal, while leaving 24 h Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes of the European Society of Car-
diology. Eur Heart J 2007;28:1598–1660.
between two fondaparinux injections. If coronary artery
2. Anderson JL, Adams CD, Antman EM, Bridges CR, Califf RM, Casey DE
bypass graft surgery was selected after diagnostic angio- Jr, Chavey WE 2nd, Fesmire FM, Hochman JS, Levin TN, Lincoff AM,
graphy, discontinuation of fondaparinux 24 h before the Peterson ED, Theroux P, Wenger NK, Wright RS, Smith SC Jr,
procedure is recommended. Jacobs AK, Adams CD, Anderson JL, Antman EM, Halperin JL,
Hunt SA, Krumholz HM, Kushner FG, Lytle BW, Nishimura R,
Ornato JP, Page RL, Riegel B. ACC/AHA 2007 guidelines for the man-
agement of patients with unstable angina/non-ST-Elevation myocar-
Conclusion dial infarction: a report of the American College of Cardiology/
American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines
Fondaparinux is the first selective inhibitor of factor Xa (Writing Committee to Revise the 2002 Guidelines for the Manage-
ment of Patients With Unstable Angina/Non-ST-Elevation Myocardial
approved for use in patients with NSTE-ACS (excluding
Infarction) developed in collaboration with the American College of
patients requiring PCI within two hours after symptom Emergency Physicians, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography
onset) or STEMI (treated with thrombolytics or no reper- and Interventions, and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons endorsed
fusion) at a dose of 2.5 mg once daily. The clinical benefit by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabi-
of fondaparinux was demonstrated in patients with litation and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. J Am Coll
Cardiol 2007;50:e1–e157.
NSTE-ACS undergoing early PCI and in patients with 3. Mehta SR, Cannon CP, Fox KA, Wallentin L, Boden WE, Spacek R,
STEMI undergoing non primary PCI. In a combined analysis Widimsky P, McCullough PA, Hunt D, Braunwald E, Yusuf S. Routine
of patients undergoing PCI in the OASIS-5 and OASIS-6 vs selective invasive strategies in patients with acute coronary syn-
studies, fondaparinux was similar to UFH or enoxaparin dromes: a collaborative meta-analysis of randomized trials. JAMA
2005;293:2908–2917.
in reducing death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (8.0
4. Bavry AA, Kumbhani DJ, Rassi AN, Bhatt DL, Askari AT. Benefit of early
vs. 8.0%), but reduced major bleeding (2.9 vs. 5.5%; invasive therapy in acute coronary syndromes: a meta-analysis of
hazard ratio: 0.52; P , 0.0001), resulting in a superior contemporary randomized clinical trials. J Am Coll Cardiol 2006;
net clinical benefit as assessed by death, myocardial 48:1319–1325.
infarction, stroke, or major bleeding (9.0 vs. 11.8%; 5. Mandelzweig L, Battler A, Boyko V, Bueno H, Danchin N, Filippatos G,
Gitt A, Hasdai D, Hasin Y, Marrugat J, Werf Van de F, Wallentin L,
hazard ratio: 0.75; P ¼ 0.01).22 If a PCI is performed in Behar S, Euro Heart Survey Investigators. The second Euro Heart
patients treated upstream with fondaparinux, it is rec- Survey on acute coronary syndromes: characteristics, treatment,
ommended that adjunctive intravenous UFH be given at and outcome of patients with ACS in Europe and the Mediterranean
a dose of 50–100 U/kg to minimize the risk of catheter Basin in 2004. Eur Heart J 2006;27:2285–2293.
6. Mehta RH, Roe MT, Chen AY, Lytle BL, Pollack CV Jr, Brindis RG,
thrombus.
Smith SC Jr, Harrington RA, Fintel D, Fraulo ES, Califf RM,
In practice, fondaparinux is easy to use (2.5 mg once Gibler WB, Ohman EM, Peterson ED. Recent trends in the care of
daily for all patients) and is a simplification vs. UFH or patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes:
enoxaparin treatments as no dose adjustments are insights from the CRUSADE initiative. Arch Intern Med 2006;166:
necessary. Because dose adjustments are not needed, it 2027–2034.
7. Cohen M, Demers C, Gurfinkel EP, Turpie AG, Fromell GJ, Goodman S,
may limit dosing errors that have been reported with Langer A, Califf RM, Fox KA, Premmereur J, Bigonzi F. A comparison of
other anti-thrombotic drugs which may increase bleeding low-molecular weight heparin with unfractionated heparin for
or death.23 Fondaparinux is a new standard of unstable coronary artery disease. N Engl J Med 1997;337:447–452.
Clinical benefit and practical use of fondaparinux C21

8. Antman EM, McCabe CH, Gurfinkel EP, Turpie AG, Bernink PJ, Salein D, patients with acute coronary syndromes undergoing percutaneous
Luna Bayes De A, Fox K, Lablanche JM, Radley D, Premmereur J, coronary intervention: results from the OASIS-5 trial. J Am Coll
Braunwald E. Enoxaparin prevents death and cardiac ischemic Cardiol 2007;50:1742–1751.
events in unstable angina/non-Q-wave myocardial infarction: 16. Hamon M, Mehta SR, Steg G, Faxon D, Kerkar P, Rupprecht H,
results of the Thrombolysis In Myocardial Infarction (TIMI 11B) trial. Tanguay J, Afzal R, Yusuf S. Major bleeding in patients with acute cor-
Circulation 1999;100:1593–1601. onary syndrome undergoing early invasive management can be
9. The SYNERGY Trial Investigators. Enoxaparin vs unfractionated reduced by fondaparinux, even in the context of trans-radial
heparin in high risk patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary intervention: insights from OASIS-5 trial. (Abstract 2654).
coronary syndromes managed with an intended early invasive strat- Circulation 2006;114:II–552.
egy: primary results of the SYNERGY randomized trial. JAMA 2004; 17. Prescribing information of enoxaparin www.fda.gov/cder/foi/nda/
292:45–54. 98/20164S15_Lovenox_prntlbl.pdf.
10. Mahaffey KW, Cohen M, Garg J, Antman E, Kleiman NS, Goodman SG, 18. Kereiakes DJ, Kleiman NS, Fry E, Mwawasi G, Lengerich R, Maresh K,

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/eurheartjsupp/article-abstract/10/suppl_C/C14/395007 by guest on 11 September 2019


Berdan LG, Reist CJ, Langer A, White HD, Aylward PE, Col JJ, Burkert ML, Aquilina JW, DeLoof M, Broderick TM, Shimshak TM. Dal-
Ferguson JJ 3rd, Califf RM, SYNERGY Trial Investigators. High-risk teparin in combination with abciximab during percutaneous coronary
patients with acute coronary syndromes treated with intervention. Am Heart J 2001;141:348–352.
low-molecular-weight or unfractionated heparin. Outcomes at 6 19. Buller CE, Pate GE, Armstrong PW, O’Neill BJ, Webb JG, Gallo R,
months and 1 year in the SYNERGY trial. JAMA 2005;294:2594–2600.
Welsh RC. Catheter thrombosis during primary percutaneous coronary
11. Petersen JL, Mahaffey KW, Hasselblad V, Antman EM, Cohen M,
intervention for acute ST elevation myocardial infarction despite sub-
Goodman SG, Langer A, Blazing MA, Le-Moigne-Amrani A, de
cutaneous low-molecular-weight heparin, acetylsalicylic acid, clopi-
Lemos JA, Nessel CC, Harrington RA, Ferguson JJ, Braunwald E,
dogrel and abciximab pretreatment. Can J Cardiol 2006;22:511–515.
Califf RM. Efficacy and bleeding complications among patients ran-
20. Madan M, Radhakrishnan S, Reis M, Paradiso-Hardy FL,
domized to enoxaparin or unfractionated heparin for antithrombin
Godin-Edgecombe M, Sparling C, Phillips AM, Shanmugasegaram S,
therapy in non-ST-Segment elevation acute coronary syndromes: a
Fort S, Naqvi SZ, Cohen EA. Comparison of enoxaparin versus
systematic overview. JAMA 2004;292:89–96.
heparin during elective percutaneous coronary intervention per-
12. White HD, Kleiman NS, Mahaffey KW, Lokhnygina Y, Pieper KS,
formed with either eptifibatide or tirofiban (the ACTION trial). Am
Chiswell K, Cohen M, Harrington RA, Chew DP, Petersen JL,
J Cardiol 2005;95:1295–1301.
Berdan LG, Aylward PE, Nessel CC, Ferguson JJ III, Califf RM. Efficacy
and safety of enoxaparin compared with unfractionated heparin in 21. Yusuf S, Mehta SR, Chrolavicius S, Afzal R, Pogue J, Granger CB,
high-risk patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary Budaj A, Peters RJ, Bassand JP, Wallentin L, Joyner C, Fox KA,
syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention in the OASIS-6 Trial Group. Effects of fondaparinux on mortality and rein-
Superior Yield of the New Strategy of Enoxaparin, Revascularization farction in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial
and Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa Inhibitors (SYNERGY) trial. Am Heart J infarction: the OASIS-6 randomized trial. JAMA 2006;295:1519–1530.
2006;152:1042–1050. 22. Mehta SR, on behalf of the OASIS 5 6 Steering Committee. Benefit of
13. Product information of fondaparinux www.emea.europa.eu/human- fondaparinux on mortality, ischemic events and bleeding across the
docs/PDFs/EPAR/arixtra/H-403-PI-en.pdf. entire spectrum of acute coronary syndromes: results of the com-
14. Yusuf S, Mehta SR, Chrolavicius S, Afzal R, Pogue J, Granger CB, bined analysis of OASIS 5 and OASIS 6. Presented at the European
Budaj A, Peters RJ, Bassand JP, Wallentin L, Joyner C, Fox KA, Fifth Society of Cardiology and World Congress of Cardiology. Hotline
Organization to Assess Strategies in Acute Ischemic Syndromes Inves- Session, 9 April 2006.
tigators. Comparison of fondaparinux and enoxaparin in acute coron- 23. Alexander KP, Chen AY, Roe MT, Newby LK, Gibson CM,
ary syndromes. N Engl J Med 2006;354:1464–1476. Allen-LaPointe NM, Pollack C, Gibler WB, Ohman EM,
15. Mehta SR, Granger CB, Eikelboom JW, Bassand JP, Wallentin L, Peterson EDCRUSADE Investigators. Excess dosing of antiplatelet
Faxon DP, Peters RJ, Budaj A, Afzal R, Chrolavicius S, Fox KAA, and antithrombin agents in the treatment of non-ST-segment
Yusuf S. Efficacy and safety of fondaparinux versus enoxaparin in elevation acute coronary syndromes. JAMA 2005;294:3108–3116.

You might also like