Efficacy and speed of effect after the first dose of aspirin in children with congenital heart disease

BACKGROUND: Many paediatric studies report that patients must be established on aspirin therapy for a minimum of 5 days to achieve adequate response. This is not always practical especially in critical settings. Prospective identification of patients that are unresponsive to aspirin sooner could potentially prevent thrombotic events. AIMS: The aim of this study was to investigate prospectively if the first dose of aspirin is effective in decreasing platelet aggregation, and thromboxane formation and if this can be measured after 2 hours in paediatric cardiology patients. A secondary aim was to identify a cut-off for a novel marker of aspirin responsiveness the maximum amplitude with arachidonic acid, which could potentially dramatically reduce the blood volume required. Third, we aimed to prospectively identify potentially non-responsive patients by spiking a sample of their blood with aspirin. RESULTS: The majority (92.3%) of patients were responsive, when measured 2 hours post first dose of aspirin. Non-response or inadequate response (7.7%) can also be identified at 2 hours after taking the first dose of aspirin. Additionally, we have shown a novel way to reduce blood sample volume requirements by measurement of the maximum amplitude with arachidonic acid as a marker of response, particularly for monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: These findings of rapid efficacy in the majority of patients offer assurance in a sound, practical way to attending clinicians, patients, and families.