American College of Cardiology

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE March 12, 2000 Time of Presentation or News Conference (PST)

Contact: Melanie Caudron or Beth Cassady March 12-15: 714-765-2021 After March 15: 301-897-2628 (not for publication)

ACC 49th Annual Scientific Session
Late-Breaking Clinical Trials
in Interventional Cardiology (#72)
Tuesday, March 14, 2000 (8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.)

(ANAHEIM, CALIF.)—Clots that cause heart attacks by blocking coronary arteries can be dissolved with thrombolytic agents, the so-called clot busters. The anticoagulant heparin is often given along with the clot-busting drug to help restore and maintain blood flow to the heart muscle. But because heparin has a number of limitations that make it hard to use in many patients, physicians have long been searching for better alternatives. A study has tested whether a recently developed synthetic pentasaccharide agent might be superior to heparin in patients who receive the clot buster t-PA for a heart attack.

In the PENTALYSE trial, 333 patients receiving t-PA were randomized to receive either heparin or the synthetic pentasaccharide agent at one of three dosages. The pentasaccharide works like an anticoagulant by inhibiting the biochemical action of activated factor X, a key molecule involved in clot formation.

The study was designed to show whether the synthetic anticoagulant is safe and as effective as heparin at preventing recurrent angina, heart attacks, and other events that returning intracoronary clots can cause. Patients in the study were followed for 30 days.

Dr. Frans Van de Werf, of University Hospital Gasthuisberg in Leuven, Belgium, will present the results of the PENTALYSE trial on Tuesday, March 14, at 8:30 a.m. at the American College of Cardiology 49th Annual Scientific Session in Anaheim, Calif.