Aspirin Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Aspirin, including details on acetylsalicylic acid, baby aspirin, side effects, overdose, allergy.

Use of the platelet function analyser (PFA-100) to quantify the effect of low dose aspirin in patients with ischaemic heart disease.

Coakley M, Self R, Marchant W, Mackie I, Mallett SV, Mythen M

Specialist Registrar, Department of Anaesthesia, Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, Hampstead, London NW3 2QG, UK.

Continuing aspirin up until surgery in cardiac surgical patients may increase peri-operative blood loss. It is possible that there is a subset of patients particularly sensitive to aspirin. The platelet function analyser (PFA-100) can demonstrate the antiplatelet effect of aspirin. This study was designed to assess the effect of daily 75 mg aspirin on platelet function, as measured by the PFA-100, in 92 patients with ischaemic heart disease. Patients were classified into three groups according to their PFA-100 results; aspirin hyper-responders (16%), aspirin normal responders (33%) and aspirin non-responders (51%). The PFA-100 has potential as a screening tool to identify patients who are either hyper-responsive or resistant to aspirin. Pre-operative PFA-100 screening to isolate aspirin hyper-responders could enable the vast majority of patients to continue with aspirin therapy pre-operatively, avoiding the risks of stopping treatment.

Published 18 November 2005 in Anaesthesia, 60(12): 1173-8.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Aspirin Research Today. All Rights Reserved.