Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease 
According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one killer in the world, accounting for almost a third of all deaths.1 By 2030, it is estimated that almost 23.6 million people will die from cardiovascular disease, mainly from heart disease and stroke, the single leading causes of death.1
With the increasing prevalence of cardiovascular and neurovascular disease, antiplatelet agents are widely prescribed to prevent ischemic events.
1) Aspirin
Today, there are approximately 50 million Americans on chronic aspirin therapy2, making it the most commonly used medication for the prevention of life-threatening vascular events such as heart attacks and strokes.
2) Clopidogrel (Plavix®)
Over 29 million patients are on Plavix3 and over 6.5 million new prescriptions are written annually for Plavix, making it the second largest selling drug worldwide.4
3) Prasugrel (Effient®)
Effient is a recent and more potent addition to the thienopyridine family of P2Y12 inhibitors.
4) Glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitors
Abciximab/ReoPro® and eptifibatide/Integrilin® are most frequently used during percutaneous coronary interventions.
Since up to one third of patients may not respond adequately to their antiplatelet medications,5 assessing patients’ platelet response to these antiplatelet medications is crucial to improving patient care.