Patients received either ticagrelor (a loading dose
of 180 mg given as two 90-mg tablets on day 1,
followed by 90 mg twice daily given orally together
with loading and daily doses of aspirin placebo)
or aspirin (a loading dose of 300 mg given as three
100-mg tablets on day 1, followed by 100 mg daily
given orally together with a loading dose and
twice-daily doses of ticagrelor placebo). Subsequent
maintenance doses were taken in the morning
and evening, at approximately 12-hour intervals,
for the remainder of the 90-day treatment
period. The loading and maintenance doses of
ticagrelor were selected on the basis of data from
previous phase 2–3 clinical studies. At the end of
90 days of study treatment, patients were treated
at the discretion of the investigator and followed
for an additional 30 days.