For heart patients, stopping regimen of aspirin can put them at risk

An aspirin a day can keep heart disease at bay. But if you suddenly stop taking that little pill, you could be in trouble.

Heart patients who go off aspirin to reduce their risk of bleeding during minor surgery or dental treatment, or who are somehow unable to stick with the routine, are putting their health at risk, French researchers have found.

Doctors at University Hospital Pasteur in Nice reviewed the cases of 1,236 hospitalized coronary patients to see how many of them might have been admitted because they stopped their aspirin therapy. They found 51 cases of unstable angina, heart attacks and clots forming within stents that occurred less than a week after the patients stopped taking their aspirin. All had been stable on the aspirin before the episode that landed them in the hospital.

The authors concluded that aspirin therapy can’t be safely stopped, especially in patients with a history of heart disease, because the withdrawal can jeopardize their health.

The findings were presented Wednesday at the annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians in Orlando, Fla.

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Jane E. Allen