Aspirin Withdrawal Unlocks Safer Recovery for Heart Patients

High-risk heart patients show improved outcomes and reduced bleeding by over 50% when aspirin is withdrawn one month after PCI, with ticagrelor treatment alone, according to the ULTIMATE-DAPT study.

Withdrawing aspirin one month after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in high-risk heart patients and keeping them on ticagrelor alone safely improves outcomes and reduces major bleeding by more than half when compared to patients taking aspirin and ticagrelor combined (also known as dual antiplatelet therapy or DAPT), which is the current standard of care.

These are the results from the ULTIMATE-DAPT study announced during a late-breaking trial presentation at the American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions on April 7, and published in The Lancet.