Ticlopidine-induced skin rash after coronary artery stenting: why not continue treatment?

BACKGROUND: The decision to interrupt a ticlopidine regimen in a patient who develops an adverse effect can be particularly difficult when discontinuing the drug could lead to a high risk situation. CASE REPORT: A 64-year old patient developed a skin rash after taking tidopidine for coronary artery stenting. Stopping ticlopidine could have led to stent occlusion and no alternative therapy seemed to be suitable. We therefore decided to carry on the treatment under close clinical surveillance. The skin signs rapidly resolved. DISCUSSION: This cases shows that tidopidine may be continued in patients who develop an adverse skin reaction. The rapid involution of the cutaneous signs in our patient demonstrated that the risk of discontinuing treatment can be greater than that of continuing.