According to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, a combination of steroids and antihistamines can prove to be an effective option for offering relief to patients suffering from allergic reactions of Plavix, the widely-prescribed drug clopidogrel.

The study findings were presented by primary Investigator Michael P. Savage, M.D., director, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Kimberly L. Campbell, M.D., cardiology fellow and lead author, at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session on March 30 2009.

From Sciencedaily.com:

“This is a very important study for many cardiac patients but especially those with stents,” said Savage. “Every patient who receives a stent must take Plavix to help prevent stent thrombosis which is clotting of the stent. This obviously poses major problems if the patient suffers an allergic reaction to the medication. To discontinue taking the drug can lead to a heart attack which may be fatal. Those with a drug eluting stent are required to be on the drug for at least one year. Our patients with drug eluting stents actually averaged 17 months on Plavix versus the minimum of one year. That’s a very long time to not be on a medication that may save your life.”

Plavix is one of the most prescribed drugs world-wide. Data from 2007 shows Plavix is the fourth most sold drug in the United States with almost four billion dollars in sales, according to IMS Health, a leading pharmaceutical industry monitoring company. It is estimated that about six percent of those taking the drug showed some signs of an allergic reaction

John R. Cohn, M.D., chief of Adult Allergy at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospitals and a key contributor to the study, remarked that low doses of antihistamines and steroids can be effective to make sure that patients can easily tolerate Plavix without discontinuing it. It was also remarked that these study results are perhaps first-of-their-kind to suggest the fact that an allergy to the drug could be managed without stopping the drug after experiencing a reaction.

Posted in Steroids