As over 80 million Americans have one or more type of cardiovascular disease1 and an additional 15 million people suffer from neurovascular disease worldwide2. Antiplatelet agents (such as aspirin and clopidogrel) are widely prescribed in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) to prevent heart attacks, strokes and other potentially life-threatening cardiovascular events:
  • 50 million Americans are on chronic aspirin therapy3
  • Over 25 million prescriptions are written annually for Plavix,
    making it the second largest selling drug in America.4

Studies have shown that patients Do Not respond equally to antiplatelet therapy.
  • Up to 1/3 of patients on antiplatelet medications may not respond adequately to antiplatelet medications5
  • Patients who are not responding adequately to their antiplatelet medications may be at 5 to 10 times greater risk for ischemic events.6-9
Therefore, early assessment of your patient’s response to antiplatelet therapy is crucial to improving patient care.


Assessing response to antiplatelet therapy should be easy.

 it is.


  • Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2008 Update-At-A-Glance. American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. 2008.
  • World Health Report - 2007, from the World Health Organization; International Cardiovascular Disease Statistics (2007 Update), a publication from the American Heart Association.
  • Pignone, M. et al. Aspirin Use Among Adults Aged 40 and Older in the United States Results of a National Survey. Am J Prev Med 2007;32(5):403–407
  • Safety of Plavix Under Review. Wall Street Journal. January 26, 2009.
  • Dupont, AG. et al. Antiplatelet therapies and the role of antiplatelet resistance in acute coronary syndrome. Thromb Res. 2009 May; 124(1):6-13.
  • Patti, G. et al. Point-of-care measurement of clopidogrel responsiveness predicts clinical outcome in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. Results of the ARMYDA-PRO (Antiplatelet therapy for Reduction of Myocardial Damage during Angioplasty-Platelet Reactivity Predicts Outcome) study. J Am Coll CardioI. 2008; 52:1128–33.
  • Marcucci, R. et al. Cardiovascular death and nonfatal myocardial Infarction in acute coronary syndrome patients receiving coronary stenting are predicted by residual platelet reactivity to ADP detected by a point-of-care assay. A 12-Month follow-Up. Circulation. 2009;119(2):237-42.
  • Cuissett, T. et al. Relation of low response to clopidogrel assessed with point-of-care assay to periprocedural myonecrosis in patients undergoing elective coronary stenting for stable angina pectoris. Am J Cardio;2008 Jun 15; 101(12):1700-3.
  • Price, MJ. et al. Prognostic significance of post-clopidogrel platelet reactivity assessed by a point-of-care assay on thrombotic events after drug-eluting stent implantation. Eur Heart J. 2008 Apr;29(8):992-1000.