Antithrombotic therapy

Abstract

Antithrombotic therapy has evolved from initially limited available agents into numerous treatment options. Thrombin inhibitors have major therapeutic uses in a myriad of thromboembolic disorders. Standard indirect inhibitors, such as heparin and warfarin, have been troublesome clinically owing principally to nonhemostatic side effects and to relative nonselectivity. These drug options may soon be supplemented and possibly supplanted by more selective, direct inhibitors with a finely honed, exclusive effect on thrombin. This approach may, in turn, provide superior, safer therapies for prevention and propagation of thrombus in many cardiovascular diseases.