DAPT calculator

Platelets are a component of blood and are what clump together to form blood clots and stop bleeding. Because of how vital they are in keeping our blood flowing and inside of us, there are many health conditions linked to both abnormal platelet structure and abnormal platelet counts. Some of these conditions can lead to the sudden clotting of a coronary stent, causing a heart attack.

Antiplatelet agents are a class of drugs that stop platelets from clumping together and forming blood clots. They are often used in patients who have just suffered a heart attack or stroke or as a preventative measure to avoid those events. Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) refers to the combination of aspirin and P2Y12 inhibitors, e.g., thienopyridine.

This treatment is often used in patients who have had a heart attack, have stents in their coronary arteries, or received coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), as it can help protect the heart.

🙋 If you want to learn more about platelets, we made other tools you can use:

• The APRI calculator helps you find the AST to Platelet Ratio Index; and
• The 4T score calculator, which guides you in assessing the effect of platelet count.

The DAPT medical abbreviation stands for dual antiplatelet therapy. The DAPT score was created to establish the optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and thienopyridine after a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stents.

For patients who have completed 1 year of dual antiplatelet therapy after PCI (without an ischemic or bleeding event), continuing therapy decreases stent thrombosis and myocardial infarction but increases the risk of bleeding. Therefore, the decision regarding the continuation of the treatment with antiplatelet drugs requires a careful assessment of the compromise between reduced ischemia and increased bleeding for the particular patient.

The DAPT score was derived from the DAPT trial made up of 11,648 randomized patients. The score has nine sections:

1. Age of the patient.
2. Presence of diabetes.
3. Prior percutaneous coronary intervention or myocardial infarction.
4. Presence of myocardial infarction at presentation.
5. Stent diameter of less than 3 mm.
6. Vein graft stent intervention.
7. History of congestive heart failure (CHF) or left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) lower than 30%.
8. Paclitaxel-eluting stent intervention.
9. Cigarette smoking (at present or in the past).

To no surprise, the factors we've seen above also appear in the calculations for CVD risk.

Most sections score one point if the answer is "Yes". However, CHF or LVEF <30% and vein graft stent get two points when the answer is affirmative. Points can be subtracted depending on the age of the patient:

The final DAPT score can range from -2 to 10 points:

• 2 or more points (high score) – The patient should benefit from prolonged DAPT than just aspirin; and
• Score of 1 point or less (low score) – Aspirin alone should be more beneficial than prolonged DAPT.

After reading the text, you should be familiar with the most important information regarding the Dual Antiplatelet Therapy score. Let's find out how to use our DAPT score calculator:

1. Choose the age of the patient.
2. Answer each of the nine questions with either a "Yes" or a "No".
3. That's it! At the bottom, you will be able to see the final DAPT score.

If you have found the DAPT score calculator interesting, you may find our other cardiovascular system calculators useful, for example, the cardiac output calculator and our ECG heart rate.