Benefit of bivalirudin versus heparin after transradial and transfemoral percutaneous coronary intervention.

Bivalirudin, a direct thrombin inhibitor, has been shown to reduce major bleeding and provide a better safety profile compared to unfractionated heparin (UFH) in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) through transfemoral access. Data pertaining to the clinical benefit of bivalirudin compared to UFH monotherapy in patients undergoing transradial PCI are lacking. The present study sought to compare the in-hospital net clinical adverse events, including death, myocardial infarction, target vessel revascularization, and bleeding, for these 2 antithrombotic regimens for all patients at a tertiary care, high-volume radial center.