Update recommends Brilinta (AstraZeneca) for Heart Attack patients

Brilinta/Brilique (ticagrelor), from AstraZeneca, should be considered along with older blood thinners clopidogrel and prasugrel for treating patients who are experiencing chest pain or some Heart Attacks, according to joint updated guidelines issued by the American Heart Association (AHA) Task Force on Practice Guidelines and the American College of Cardiology (ACCF) Foundation.

The �focused update� on unstable angina (chest pain) or a specific kind of heart attack known as non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) is published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The panels also suggest that patients unable to take aspirin can take prasugrel for artery-opening procedures since research on the medication is restricted to those patients. Ticagrelor or clopidogrel may be given whether patients receive medical therapy alone or are also having an invasive procedure. �We have put it on equal footing with two other antiplatelet medications, clopidogrel and prasugrel,� said Hani Jneid, M.D., lead author of the update and an assistant professor of medicine and director of interventional cardiology research at Baylor College of Medicine. see >"2012 ACCF/AHA Focused Update of the Guideline for the Management of Patients With Unstable Angina/Non�ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (Updating the 2007 Guideline and Replacing the 2011 Focused Update): A Report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines." Circulation, July 16, 2012