Medical Xpress (01/17/12)
The Journal of the American Medical Association will be publishing the initial results of a BRIDGE trial of the drug cangrelor. Cangrelor is an investigational intravenous antiplatelet that is designed to help 'bridge' patients between the time oral antiplatet drugs are stopped and the patient can undergo cardiac surgery. The findings of the double-blind, randomized trial of 210 patients between Jan. 2009 and April 2011 indicate that cangrelor not only works as an effective and fast blood-thinner, but also dissipates from the body much more rapidly than the commonly used blood-thinners. The trial results showed that 99 percent of patients receiving the drug maintained the target levels of platelet inhibition, which minimizes risk of a clotting event, during the bridging period with no significant increase in bleeding complications during surgery.

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