Clopidogrel Health Dictionary

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Clopidogrel: From 1 Different Sources

n. an *antiplatelet drug given to prevent strokes or heart attacks in those at risk. Side-effects may include gastrointestinal bleeding.
Health Source: Oxford | Concise Colour Medical Dictionary
Author: Jonathan Law, Elizabeth Martin

Anticoagulants

Anticoagulants are drugs which inhibit COAGULATION of the blood. They are used to prevent and treat abnormal clotting of the blood, to treat THROMBOSIS, and sometimes to prevent or treat STROKE or TRANSIENT ISCHAEMIC ATTACKS OR EPISODES (TIA, TIE). Anticoagulant drugs are also prescribed preventively in major surgery to stop abnormal clotting from occurring; HAEMODIALYSIS is another procedure during which these drugs are used. Anticoagulants are also prescribed to prevent thrombi (clots) forming on prosthetic heart valves after heart surgery.

The drugs are much more e?ective in the treatment and prevention of venous clotting – for example, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), see under VEINS, DISEASES OF – than in preventing thrombosis formation in arteries with their fast-?owing blood in which thrombi contain little ?brin (against which the anticoagulants work) and many PLATELETS.

The main anticoagulants now in use are the natural agent HEPARIN (a quick-acting variety and a low-molecular-weight long-acting type); synthetic oral anticoagulants such as WARFARIN and the less-often-used acenocoumarol and PHENINDIONE; and antiplatelet compounds such as ASPIRIN, clopidogrel dipyridamole and ticlopidines. Fondaparinux is an extract of heparin which can be given once daily by injection; ximelagatran, an inhibitor of thrombin, is being trialled as the ?rst new oral anticoagulant since heparin.

Patients taking anticoagulants need careful medical monitoring and they should carry an Anticoagulant Card with instructions about the use of whatever drug they may be receiving – essential information should the individual require treatment for other medical conditions as well as for thrombosis.... anticoagulants

Antiplatelet Drug

any one of a class of drugs that reduce platelet aggregation (see platelet activation) and therefore the formation of clot (see thrombosis). Examples are *abciximab, *aspirin, *clopidogrel, prasugrel, and ticagrelor.... antiplatelet drug

Dual Antiplatelet Therapy

(DAPT) aspirin prescribed at the same time as another oral *antiplatelet drug (e.g. clopidogrel, prasugrel, ticagrelor) for patients deemed to be at temporarily increased risk of coronary or stent thrombosis (typically following *acute coronary syndrome or new coronary stent implantation). After a prespecified time (usually 12 months), the aspirin is continued and the other antiplatelet drug is stopped.... dual antiplatelet therapy

Hirudin

n. an *anticoagulant present in the salivary glands of *leeches and in certain snake venoms that prevents *blood coagulation by inhibiting the action of the enzyme *thrombin. The anticoagulant bivalirudin is a genetically engineered form of hirudin from the medicinal leech. It is administered by intravenous injection and infusion, in combination with aspirin and clopidogrel, to treat patients with S–T elevation *myocardial infarction who are undergoing primary *percutaneous coronary intervention.... hirudin

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