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Published at www.nejm.org March 14, 2006 (10.1056/NEJMoa060898)

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ABSTRACT

Background Unfractionated heparin is often used as adjunctive therapy with fibrinolysis in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction. We compared a low-molecular-weight heparin, enoxaparin, with unfractionated heparin for this purpose.

Methods We randomly assigned 20,506 patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction who were scheduled to undergo fibrinolysis to receive enoxaparin throughout the index hospitalization or unfractionated heparin for at least 48 hours. The primary efficacy end point was death or nonfatal recurrent myocardial infarction through 30 days.

Results The primary end point occurred in 12.0 percent of patients in the unfractionated heparin group and 9.9 percent of those in the enoxaparin group (17 percent reduction in relative risk, P<0.001). Nonfatal reinfarction occurred in 4.5 percent of the patients receiving unfractionated heparin and 3.0 percent of those receiving enoxaparin (33 percent reduction in relative risk, P<0.001); 7.5 percent of patients given unfractionated heparin died, as did 6.9 percent of those given enoxaparin (P=0.11). The composite of death, nonfatal reinfarction, or urgent revascularization occurred in 14.5 percent of patients given unfractionated heparin and 11.7 percent of those given enoxaparin (P<0.001); major bleeding occurred in 1.4 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively (P<0.001). The composite of death, nonfatal reinfarction, or nonfatal intracranial hemorrhage (a measure of net clinical benefit) occurred in 12.2 percent of patients given unfractionated heparin and 10.1 percent of those given enoxaparin (P<0.001).

Conclusions In patients receiving fibrinolysis for ST-elevation myocardial infarction, treatment with enoxaparin throughout the index hospitalization is superior to treatment with unfractionated heparin for 48 hours but is associated with an increase in major bleeding episodes. These findings should be interpreted in the context of net clinical benefit. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00077792.)

N Engl J Med 2006;354.

Notice: To coincide with presentations at the American College of Cardiology meeting, this article was published at www.nejm.org on March 14, 2006. It will appear in the April 6 issue of the Journal.

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