Mehran R, Baber U, Sharma SK, et al. - Through a double-blind trial of 9,006 patients, researchers investigated the impact of ticagrelor alone vs ticagrelor plus aspirin relative to clinically significant bleeding among patients who were at high risk for bleeding or an ischemic event and who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Subsequent to 3 months of treatment with ticagrelor plus aspirin, individuals who had not had a major bleeding event or ischemic event continued taking ticagrelor and were randomized to get aspirin or placebo for 1 year. For Bleeding Academic Research Consortium type 3 or 5 bleeding, the difference in risk between the groups was comparable. In both groups, the incidence of death due to any reason, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke was 3.9%. Thus, among high-risk individuals who underwent PCI and finished 3 months of dual antiplatelet therapy, no greater risk of death, myocardial infarction, or stroke was seen. Ticagrelor monotherapy was correlated with a lower incidence of clinically significant bleeding in comparison with ticagrelor plus aspirin.