The Prophylactic Use of Glycoprotein 2b/3a Inhibitors in the Endovascular Treatment of Intracranial Aneurysms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: There has been a growing interest in the use of Glycoprotein 2b/3a (GP2B3A) inhibitors in neuroendovascular procedures. However, clinical evidence for their prophylactic use is still sparse. In this review, we aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of prophylactic GP2B3A inhibitor use and to compare the performance of GP2B3A inhibitors with oral dual antiplatelet (DAP) treatment in intracranial aneurysm patients treated with stent-assisted coil embolization or flow diversion. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Clinical Trials databases. Data collected included hemorrhagic and thromboembolic complication rates, mortality, good functional outcome, and rupture status. A random-effects model was fit for each outcome measure. Results: Thirteen studies comprising 1429 patients were included. The overall hemorrhagic complication rate of the GP2B3A cohort was 3.98% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.58–7.42). The subgroup analysis comparing ruptured versus unruptured aneurysms in which GP2B3A antagonists were used did not show a significant difference in hemorrhagic complication rates (P-value = 0.504). Compared with the DAP group, the GP2B3A inhibitor cohort had significantly lower hemorrhagic complication rates (odds ratio = 0.33; 95% CI = 0.13–0.85; P-value = 0.022). The thromboembolic complication rates were 6.63% (95% CI = 3.44–10.75) for the GP2B3A inhibitor group and 10.4% (95% CI = 7–13.8) for the DAP group. However, the difference was not statistically significant (odds ratio = 0.52; 95% CI = 0.22–1.24; P-value = 0.142). Conclusions: Our results support that GP2B3A inhibitors are safe and effective in preventing ischemic complications associated with the endoluminal devices. Additionally, our findings indicate that GP2B3A inhibitors can be utilized as prophylactic agents regardless of the rupture status.