An international consortium of ten academic organizations of the Global Cardiovascular Research Funders Forum (GCRFF) is launching the SCAD-ALIGN study. For the first time, it systematically investigates optimal platelet inhibition in spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) – a special form of heart attack that primarily affects women between the ages of 30 and 55.

SCAD is a rare cause of acute coronary syndrome, in which there is bleeding into the wall of a coronary artery. In contrast to a classic heart attack, there is usually no hardening of the arteries. The disease is being diagnosed more and more frequently, but an evidence-based therapy recommendation is still lacking.

The study, led by the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) and coordinated by the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), compares two treatment strategies: moderate platelet inhibition with a single drug over three months and more intensive dual therapy over three months, followed by nine-month monotherapy. The primary endpoint includes recurrent ischemia, recurrent SCAD, myocardial infarction, revascularization and death.

Prof. Peter Clemmensen, national study leader for Germany, explained that SCAD patients have so far been treated according to standards developed for other clinical pictures. The study is intended to clarify which form of platelet inhibition actually works and which is more harmful.

Prof. Christina Magnussen, national co-principal investigator of the study, emphasized that the study addresses an issue that predominantly affects women and for which there is hardly any reliable evidence so far. The SCAD-ALIGN study is part of the GCRFF’s Multinational Clinical Trials Initiative and is supported by several international funding organizations, including the British Heart Foundation, the DZHK and other national heart foundations.

The study is intended to provide evidence-based treatment recommendations for SCAD and improve the care and quality of life of affected patients worldwide.

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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