Antiplatelet drug
Class of pharmaceuticals / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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An antiplatelet drug (antiaggregant), also known as a platelet agglutination inhibitor or platelet aggregation inhibitor, is a member of a class of pharmaceuticals that decrease platelet aggregation[1] and inhibit thrombus formation. They are effective in the arterial circulation where classical Vitamin K antagonist anticoagulants have minimal effect.[2]
Antiplatelet drugs are widely used in primary and secondary prevention of thrombotic disease, especially myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke.[1]
Antiplatelet therapy with one or more of these drugs decreases the ability of blood clots to form by interfering with the platelet activation process in primary hemostasis. Antiplatelet drugs can reversibly or irreversibly inhibit the process involved in platelet activation resulting in decreased tendency of platelets to adhere to one another and to damaged blood vessels' endothelium.[3]