Description
The NHLBI convened a Working Group (WG) Meeting on Guided Antithrombotic Therapy on June 30 and July 1, 2011, at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. The WG included cardiologists, hematologists, interventionalists, clinical trialists, genetic epidemiologists, basic scientists, and other stakeholders to address 1) the development and clinical use of anticoagulant and antiplatelet medications and 2) to provide recommendations and develop a research agenda for the NHLBI to enhance understanding and effectiveness of antithrombotic therapy, and to advance guided antithrombotic therapy.
The specific goals of the WG were:
- to define the state-of-the-science and research frontier in antithrombotic therapy;
- to assess the need for functional testing to effectively guide antithrombotic therapy;
- to assess the current state-of-the-science of pharmacogenetics studies of anticoagulant and antiplatelet medications to guide antithrombotic therapy; and
- to define the roles of stakeholders in the identification of gaps, areas where new agents could be useful, and to help plan appropriately sized clinical trials, and overall to improve antithrombotic therapy.