Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Clopidogrel effects on blood clotting in cats with silent heart
By den Toom, M L et al.·Published in The veterinary quarterly·2017·a Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, Netherlands·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effects of clopidogrel therapy on whole blood platelet aggregation, the Plateletworks® assay and coagulation parameters in cats with asymptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: a pilot study.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 14 cats with asymptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) were given clopidogrel, a medication often used to prevent blood clots, to see how it affected their blood platelets. After a week of treatment, the cats showed a significant decrease in platelet aggregation (the clumping together of platelets) when tested with a specific method called the Plateletworks assay. However, the clopidogrel did not significantly change other blood clotting measures. This suggests that clopidogrel may help reduce the risk of blood clots in cats with HCM without affecting their overall blood clotting ability.
People also search for: cat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy treatment · clopidogrel for cats · cat blood clot prevention
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although scientific evidence is limited, clopidogrel is frequently used as prophylaxis for arterial thromboembolism in cats with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). OBJECTIVES: Evaluating effects of clopidogrel therapy in asymptomatic cats with HCM on (1) conventional whole blood aggregation (WBA), (2) alternative platelet aggregation assessed with tubes of the Plateletworks® assay and (3) standard coagulation parameters. ANIMALS AND METHODS: Prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study. Fourteen asymptomatic HCM cats were randomly allocated to receive placebo (n = 5) or clopidogrel (18.75 mg/cat q24h, n = 9) as part of a larger study. Aggregation responses (to 20 µM adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and 10 µg/ml collagen) in WBA and the Plateletworks® assay and standard coagulation parameters were evaluated at baseline and after seven days of therapy. RESULTS: Clopidogrel therapy significantly reduced aggregation responses to ADP and collagen in the Plateletworks® agonists tubes (ADP and collagen: P < 0.001), but did not significantly reduce aggregation responses to ADP and collagen in the WBA technique (ADP: P = 0.07, collagen: P = 0.30). Clopidogrel therapy did not show a significant effect on prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, antithrombin, D-dimers and fibrinogen concentrations. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Clopidogrel therapy at a dose of 18.75 mg/cat q24h for seven days causes a significant decrease in in vitro platelet aggregation evaluated with the Plateletworks® assay, without affecting standard coagulation parameters in cats with asymptomatic HCM.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27786603/