Efficacy and safety of clopidogrel versus aspirin monotherapy in patients at high risk of subsequent cardiovascular event after percutaneous coronary intervention (SMART-CHOICE 3): a randomised, open-label, multicentre trial

LancetPublished Randomised controlled trial

Primary result · All-cause death, MI or strokeResult — go to the resultHazard ratio 0.71 95% CI 0.54–0.93

Authors' conclusion

Among patients who were at high risk of recurrent ischaemic events and who completed the standard duration of DAPT following PCI, clopidogrel monotherapy, compared with aspirin monotherapy, significantly reduced the cumulative incidence of a composite of death from any cause, myocardial infarction, and stroke, without an apparent increase in the risk of bleeding.

Study context

Population
Patients ≥19 years at high risk of recurrent ischaemic events (prior MI, medication-treated DM or complex coronary lesions) who completed standard-duration DAPT after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with drug-eluting stentsmedian follow-up 2.3 years
Participants
5,506 patients
Comparison
Clopidogrel vs aspirin monotherapy after standard-duration DAPT
  • Clopidogreln = 2,752
  • Aspirinn = 2,754reference
Primary endpoint
Composite of:
  • All-cause death
  • MI
  • Stroke (ITT population)
Follow-up
3 years (Kaplan-Meier)
Methodological detailsopen-label, multicentre, 26 sites in South Korea
  • Open-label
  • Multicentre
  • 26 sites in South Korea

Primary result

All-cause death, MI or stroke · 3 years

Hazard ratio

0.71

95% CI 0.54–0.93

P = 0.013

Events by treatment group

Clopidogrelvs Aspirin
HR 0.71 (95% CI 0.54–0.93); P = 0.013

As reported in the abstract

Secondary outcomes

OutcomeClopidogrelAspirinHR (CI)
All-cause death · 3 years2.4% (CI 1.6–3.1)4.0% (CI 2.9–5.0)0.71 (0.49–1.02)
MI · 3 years1.0% (CI 0.6–1.4)2.2% (CI 1.4–2.9)0.54 (0.33–0.90)
Stroke · 3 years1.3% (CI 0.7–2.0)1.3% (CI 0.8–1.7)0.79 (0.46–1.36)

Safety

OutcomeClopidogrelAspirinHR (CI)
Bleeding · 3 years3.0% (CI 2.0–3.9)3.0% (CI 2.2–3.9)0.97 (0.67–1.42)

Bleeding · 3 years

No difference in bleeding risk

Any adverse event

Clopidogrel not associated with higher incidence of any adverse event vs aspirin

Original publication

Efficacy and safety of clopidogrel versus aspirin monotherapy in patients at high risk of subsequent cardiovascular event after percutaneous coronary intervention (SMART-CHOICE 3): a randomised, open-label, multicentre trial. Lancet. Published 30 March 2025. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(25)00449-0

Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →

Get them every week

New studies on this topic in My Week and in your Monday e-mail.

We e-mail you a sign-in link and a code. No password, no spam.