Aspirin dosing in cardiovascular disease prevention and management: an update

Aspirin has been in use for prevention and management of cardiovascular diseases for several decades. Clinical and epidemiological literature suggests that while net benefits of aspirin in primary prevention of CVDs are less clear, the benefits of aspirin in acute scenarios and secondary prevention settings are well established. However, its optimum dosing requirements have been up for debate especially in various settings of acute coronary syndrome and stable ischemic heart disease. The role of clinician in stratifying individual risk score to achieve net clinical benefit is an important determinant of initiating aspirin therapy. The purpose of this article is to review association of aspirin and CVD in general, and to review its dosing regimens in acute settings as well as primary and secondary prevention as suggested by various established guidelines. We also aim to provide the readers an update on recent changes and current evidence based practice trends.