Antithrombotic agents Anticoagulants Antiplatelet

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a complicating condition responsible for high morbidity and mortality in North America and Europe. This disease commonly is linked to advanced age but has both hereditary and acquired risk factors, such as surgery, any form of trauma, and childbirth, associated with it. It encompasses the conditions of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism. In excess of 60,000 deaths annually are attributed to pulmonary embolism. Preventative therapy consists of the use of two different classes of antithrombotic agents, namely anticoagulants and antiplatelet drugs (1,2). 

There are a number of additional targets that may lead to effective antithrombotic therapy in ACS. In terms of anticoagulants, the concepts of agents that have dual inhibitor sites such as the one we find in heparin but that lack in some of its undesirable qualities could be very useful. The same concept may apply to drugs that have both anticoagulant and antiplatelet properties, It is quite probable that inhibitors of tissue factor as well as of the platelet ADP receptor when combined with aspirin might be very effective. An ability to block the feedback action of the polyphosphates released from platelets upon activation is also an attractive aim (Fig. 3),... 

Antithrombotic— A pharmacologic agent that prevents throm-bus/clot formation. This category includes both antiplatelet agents and anticoagulants. 

---