American Society of Hirudotherapy

Safety and Efficacy of Bivalirudin in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: From the REPLACE-2, ACUITY and HORIZONS-AMI Trials

Randomized controlled trial published in Am J Cardiol (2016)

Last Updated: June 18, 2026Reviewed by: ASH Editorial Board
Research article — evidence reviewArticle reference
Evidence: Randomized controlled trialDrug DevelopmentClinical TrialsGiustino G et al. · Am J Cardiol, 2016

Abstract

Optimal antithrombotic pharmacotherapy in patients affected by diabetes mellitus (DM) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention is unclear. We sought to evaluate the safety and efficacy of bivalirudin compared with heparin plus a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor (GPI) in patients with DM undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. We pooled patient-level data from the Randomized Evaluation of PCI Linking Angiomax to Reduced Clinical Events-2, Acute Catheterization and Urgent Intervention Triage strategy, and Harmonizing Outcomes with Revascularization and Stents in Acute Myocardial Infarction trials. The primary efficacy end point was the incidence of major adverse cardiac events, defined as the composite of death, myocardial infarction, or unplanned revascularization at 30 days. The primary safety end point was the incidence of 30-day non-coronary artery bypass graft-related major bleeding. All-cause mortality was reported at 30 days and 1 year. Of the 14,737 patients included in the pooled database, 3,641 (24.7%) had DM. Patients with DM had higher rates of 30-day major bleeding and 30-day and 1-year all-cause mortality. There were no differences in 30-day major adverse cardiac events between bivalirudin versus heparin plus GPI in patients with DM (6.9% vs 7.8%; relative risk [RR] 0.89, 95% CI 0.71 to 1.12) or without DM (7.5% vs 6.7%; RR 1.11, 95% CI 0.97 to 1.27; pinteraction = 0.10). Bivalirudin treatment was associated with reduced risk of major bleeding in similar magnitude in patients with DM (4.3% vs 6.6% RR 0.68, 95% CI 0.51 to 0.89) or without DM (3.2% vs 6.1%; RR 0.51, 95% CI 0.43 to 0.61; pinteraction = 0.15). The hemorrhagic benefit of bivalirudin was noted for both access site- and non-access site-related bleeding. Overall, bivalirudin treatment was associated with a significant 1-year mortality benefit (2.7% vs 3.3%; RR 0.82, 95% CI 0.68 to 0.98; p = 0.03), which was consistent between patients with or without DM (pinteraction = 0.30). In conclusion, compared with heparin plus GPI, bivalirudin was associated with similar 30-day antithrombotic efficacy and better 30-day freedom from bleeding and 1-year mortality, irrespective of diabetic status.

Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.

Publication typeJournal ArticleRandomized Controlled Trial
Indexed MeSH termsAgedAntithrombinsCase-Control StudiesDiabetes ComplicationsFemaleHeparinHirudinsHumansMaleMiddle AgedMyocardial InfarctionPeptide Fragments

Summary

Pooled patient-level data from REPLACE-2, ACUITY, HORIZONS-AMI; bivalirudin reduced major bleeding similarly in patients with (RR 0.68) and without diabetes (RR 0.51) and improved 1-year mortality.

Why This Matters for Hirudotherapy

This pooled patient-level analysis of REPLACE-2, ACUITY, and HORIZONS-AMI (14,737 patients, 24.7% with diabetes) compared bivalirudin versus heparin plus glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, evaluating efficacy and safety by diabetic status. Bivalirudin showed similar 30-day major adverse cardiac event rates irrespective of diabetic status, reduced major bleeding in both subgroups, and an overall significant one-year mortality benefit (2.7% vs 3.3%) consistent across diabetic and non-diabetic patients. The abstract does not mention leeches, hirudotherapy, hirudin, or leech-secretome components. CAVEAT: This is a pooled analysis of randomized trials focused on diabetic subgroups in PCI; its connection to ASH's domain cannot be established from the abstract alone.

Citation

Safety and Efficacy of Bivalirudin in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention: From the REPLACE-2, ACUITY and HORIZONS-AMI Trials.

Giustino G et al. · Am J Cardiol, 2016

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