Researchers from New York City-based NYU Langone Health have created a scoring tool to help physicians identify patients at risk for cardiovascular events.
The Platelet Reactivity ExpreSsion Score (PRESS) is based on the association between platelet hyperreactivity and cardiovascular events, according to a study published Aug. 20 in Nature Communications.
Researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine enrolled 300 patients with peripheral artery disease in the study. Of those, platelet aggregation was measured in 254 patients post- lower extremity revascularization, with 17.5% of those patients showing hyperreactive platelets.
Patients with hyperreactive platelets had more than double the incidence of heart attack, stroke, acute limb ischemia or major amputation within 30 days of the lower extremity revascularization procedure, the study said.
After tracking the impact of platelet activity status against patients' incidence of major adverse cardiovascular and limb events, researchers analyzed patient data and uncovered 451 genes "whose activity differed significantly" in patients with hyperreactive platelets compared to patients without hyperreactive platelets.
Weight was assigned to each genetic difference to determine the PRESS for each patient, with researchers finding the score was associated with a higher cardiovascular event risk.
"In current practice, antiplatelet therapy is not routinely recommended for the prevention of a first heart attack or stroke, but a platelet-based test would help to identify patients at highest risk, and those who would benefit most from antiplatelet therapy to prevent a cardiovascular event," study co-author Tessa Barrett, PhD, said in an Aug. 20 news release from NYU Langone.