Antiplatelet Therapy after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention ― Past, Current and Future Perspectives ―

Abstract

Optimal antiplatelet therapy after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been changed in parallel with the improvements of coronary stent and antiplatelet therapy. Over the past 25 years, dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with aspirin plus P2Y12 inhibitor has been the standard of care used after coronary stent implantation. First-generation drug-eluting stent (DES) appeared to increase the risk of late stent thrombosis, and duration of DAPT was prolonged to 12 months. DAPT duration up to 12 months was the dominant strategy after DES implantation in the subsequent >10 years, although there was no dedicated randomized controlled trial supporting this recommendation. The current recommendation of DAPT duration is getting shorter due to the development of new-generation DES, use of a P2Y12 inhibitor as a monotherapy, and the increasing prevalence of high-bleeding risk patients. Furthermore, an aspirin-free strategy is now emerging as one of the novel strategies of antiplatelet therapy after PCI. This review gives an overview of the history of antiplatelet therapy and provides current and future perspectives on antiplatelet therapy after PCI.