Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor antagonists: a comparative review of their use in percutaneous coronary intervention.

Antiplatelet therapy is critical during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) as it reduces the incidence of abrupt closure and distal thrombi embolization, which are significant acute peri-procedural complications likely responsible for the clinical adverse outcomes with PCI, namely death, myocardial infarction or urgent target vessel revascularization. Glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa receptor antagonists, potent antiplatelet agents, have been specifically tested during PCI. There are currently three commercially available GP IIb/IIIa receptor antagonists and results from more than ten randomized clinical PCI trials have established their clinical efficacy and tolerability during coronary intervention. There remain questions regarding variability in efficacy among individual clinical trials and among population subsets, potential clinical differences among the available agents, and their optimal use. This article will critically review the body of evidence for clinical efficacy and tolerability of each individual tested compound, highlight potential differences among agents, and raise important issues involving their use in clinical practice.