Adjunctive therapies in the cath lab. Subacute stent thrombosis developing twelve days after discontinuation of ticlopidine treatment.

The two structurally related thienopyridines, ticlopidine and clopidogrel in addition to aspirin, have become the standard regimen for prevention of subacute thrombosis (SAT) after coronary stent implantation. Although both regimens are highly effective, ticlopidine suffers from severe hematologic side effects. Recent trials encourage shorter duration of therapy with these agents. However, the optimal duration of antiplatelet therapy after stenting is still not clear. We report a case of SAT developing 12 days after discontinuation of 2 weeks of aspirin plus ticlopidine therapy. We believe that the present data are still not clear regarding the optimum duration of antiplatelet therapy after stenting.