Triple therapy: A review of antithrombotic treatment for patients with atrial fibrillation undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

In patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), concomitant coronary artery disease is often present, and vice versa. Optimal antithrombotic treatment for patients with AF undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is one of the major concerns in the field of cardiology. Triple therapy, a combination of oral anticoagulant (OAC) plus dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and P2Y12 inhibitor, has been used for patients with AF undergoing PCI in recent decades to reduce ischemic events under guideline recommendations. However, triple therapy is well-known to induce severe bleeding events. Recently, the results of several clinical trials have been published, and the latest guidelines recommend that most patients should undergo dual therapy (i.e. OAC plus P2Y12 inhibitor) from the beginning of PCI, or triple therapy only peri-PCI period and immediately shift to dual therapy after hospital discharge. Although these recommendations are useful and appear to be reasonable, no studies have validated this. In addition, there are a number of unresolved issues regarding the antithrombotic treatment for patients with AF undergoing PCI such as risk prediction models and the best combination of OAC with antiplatelet agents, and prospective trials are ongoing. This review article will summarize current evidence and focus on the optimal regimen of antithrombotic treatment for patients with AF undergoing PCI.