The association of body mass index with long-term clinical outcomes after ticagrelor monotherapy following abbreviated dual antiplatelet therapy in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: a prespecified sub-analysis of the GLOBAL LEADERS Trial

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of antiplatelet therapies following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) may be affected by body mass index (BMI). METHODS AND RESULTS: This is a prespecified subgroup analysis of the GLOBAL LEADERS trial, a prospective, multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled trial in an all-comer population undergoing PCI, comparing the experimental strategy (23-month ticagrelor monotherapy following 1-month dual antiplatelet therapy [DAPT]) with a reference regimen (12-month aspirin monotherapy following 12-month DAPT). A total of 15,968 patients were stratified by baseline BMI with prespecified threshold of 27 kg/m(2). Of those, 6973 (43.7%) patients with a BMI < 27 kg/m(2) had a higher risk of all-cause mortality at 2 years than those with BMI ≥ 27 kg/m(2) (adjusted HR 1.24, 95% CI 1.02–1.49). At 2 years, the rates of the primary endpoint (all-cause mortality or new Q-wave myocardial infarction) were similar between treatment strategies in either BMI group (p(interaction) = 0.51). In acute coronary syndrome, however, the experimental strategy was associated with significant reduction of the primary endpoint compared to the reference strategy in patients with BMI < 27 kg/m(2) (HR 0.69, 95% CI 0.51–0.94), but not in the ones with BMI ≥ 27 kg/m(2) (p(interaction) = 0.047). In chronic coronary syndrome, there was no between-group difference in the efficacy and safety of the two antiplatelet strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, BMI did not influence the treatment effect seen with ticagrelor monotherapy; however, a beneficial effect of ticagrelor monotherapy was seen in ACS patients with BMI < 27 kg/m(2). TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial has been registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, Number NCT01813435. GRAPHIC ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00392-020-01604-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.