Antiplatelet therapy in acute coronary syndrome. Prehospital phase: nothing, aspirin or what?

In most cases of ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) a major coronary vessel is occluded by a thrombus. This is why early and effective antiplatelet therapy plays a key role. The current guidelines recommend the administration of dual antiplatelet therapy as early as possible. Despite the lack of convincing clinical evidence, prehospital administration appears reasonable, primarily because of pharmacokinetic considerations. Ticagrelor should be preferentially administered because the largest amount of evidence is available and it appears to be safe. In high-risk patients undergoing transfer to a catheterization laboratory, upstream use of a glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa receptor antagonist (tirofiban) may be considered. Acute coronary syndrome without ST segment elevation (NSTE-ACS) represents a clinically heterogeneous group. Current guidelines recommend that antiplatelet therapy should be initiated as early as possible when the diagnosis of NSTE-ACS is made. If there is high clinical suspicion of NSTE-ACS acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) should be given before hospital admission. In high-risk patients prehospital administration of ticagrelor may be considered.