Acute myocardial infarction complicating ischemic stroke: is there room for cangrelor?

Abstract

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) complicating ischemic stroke is a well known and undertreated event. A conservative management is not infrequent in these settings, due to the fear of hemorrhagic complications related to antithrombotic therapy. Notably, an invasive approach with a primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been shown to be associated with a lower in-hospital mortality in patients with concomitant ischemic stroke and AMI. The optimal antiplatelet regimen in these cases has been not clearly defined, yet. We report two cases of patients with AMI complicating ischemic stroke, successfully treated with cangrelor infusion, which was started during PCI and maintained up to 48 h at bridge therapy dosage (0.75 mcg/kg/min). Both patients underwent successful PCI in the acute phase, and neither ischemic nor hemorrhagic complications occurred during in-hospital stay.

Keywords

• myocardial infarction
• stroke
• cangrelor