scholarly journals Antiplatelet Therapy After Noncardioembolic Stroke

Stroke ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (7) ◽  
pp. 1812-1818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacoba P. Greving ◽  
Hans-Christoph Diener ◽  
Johannes B. Reitsma ◽  
Philip M. Bath ◽  
László Csiba ◽  
...  

Background and Purpose— We assessed the efficacy and safety of antiplatelet agents after noncardioembolic stroke or transient ischemic attack and examined how these vary according to patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics. Methods— We did a network meta-analysis (NMA) of data from 6 randomized trials of the effects of commonly prescribed antiplatelet agents in the long-term (≥3 months) secondary prevention of noncardioembolic stroke or transient ischemic attack. Individual patient data from 43 112 patients were pooled and reanalyzed. Main outcomes were serious vascular events (nonfatal stroke, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or vascular death), major bleeding, and net clinical benefit (serious vascular event or major bleeding). Subgroup analyses were done according to age, sex, ethnicity, hypertension, qualifying diagnosis, type of vessel involved (large versus small vessel disease), and time from qualifying event to randomization. Results— Aspirin/dipyridamole combination (RR NMA-adj , 0.83; 95% CI, 0.74–0.94) significantly reduced the risk of vascular events compared with aspirin, as did clopidogrel (RR NMA-adj , 0.88; 95% CI, 0.78–0.98), and aspirin/clopidogrel combination (RR NMA-adj , 0.83; 95% CI, 0.71–0.96). Clopidogrel caused significantly less major bleeding and intracranial hemorrhage than aspirin, aspirin/dipyridamole combination, and aspirin/clopidogrel combination. Aspirin/clopidogrel combination caused significantly more major bleeding than aspirin, aspirin/dipyridamole combination, and clopidogrel. Net clinical benefit was similar for clopidogrel and aspirin/dipyridamole combination (RR NMA-adj , 0.99; 95% CI, 0.93–1.05). Subgroup analyses showed no heterogeneity of treatment effectiveness across prespecified subgroups. The excess risk of major bleeding associated with aspirin/clopidogrel combination compared with clopidogrel alone was higher in patients aged <65 years than it was in patients ≥65 years (RR NMA-adj , 3.9 versus 1.7). Conclusions— Results favor clopidogrel and aspirin/dipyridamole combination for long-term secondary prevention after noncardioembolic stroke or transient ischemic attack, regardless of patient characteristics. Aspirin/clopidogrel combination was associated with a significantly higher risk of major bleeding compared with other antiplatelet regimens.

Life ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 447
Author(s):  
Dániel Tornyos ◽  
Alexandra Bálint ◽  
Péter Kupó ◽  
Oumaima El Alaoui El Abdallaoui ◽  
András Komócsi

Stroke embodies one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. We aimed to provide a comprehensive insight into the effectiveness and safety of antiplatelet agents and anticoagulants in the secondary prevention of ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack. A systematic search for randomized controlled trials, comparing antiplatelet or anticoagulant therapy versus aspirin or placebo among patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack, was performed in order to summarize data regarding the different regimens. Keyword-based searches in the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases were conducted until the 1st of January 2021. Our search explored 46 randomized controlled trials involving ten antiplatelet agents, six combinations with aspirin, and four anticoagulant therapies. The review of the literature reflects that antiplatelet therapy improves outcome in patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack. Monotherapy proved to be an effective and safe choice, especially in patients with a high risk of bleeding. Intensified antiplatelet regimens further improve stroke recurrence; however, bleeding rate increases while mortality remains unaffected. Supplementing the clinical judgment of stroke treatment, assessment of bleeding risk is warranted to identify patients with the highest benefit of treatment intensification.


2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinghua Zhang ◽  
Chao Wang ◽  
Maoyong Zheng ◽  
Yanxia Li ◽  
Jincun Li ◽  
...  

Background: Antiplatelet agents are the mainstay for secondary prevention of non-cardioembolic stroke. This systematic review examined the safety and efficacy of short-, middle-, and long-term aspirin in combination with clopidogrel as secondary prevention of stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) of presumed arterial origin. Methods: PubMed, EmBase, and CENTRAL were searched up to May 2014. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared aspirin plus clopidogrel versus aspirin or clopidogrel as secondary prevention of stroke or TIA of arterial origin were included. The analyses were stratified into short-term (≤3 months), middle-term (>3 months and <1 year), and long-term (≥1 year). Outcomes were compared using risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results: Eight RCTs (20,728 patients) were included in the overall analysis. Compared with aspirin or clopidogrel alone, the complete analysis of all the data indicated that the combination therapy significantly reduced the risk of stroke recurrence (RR, 0.82; 95% CI 0.70-0.96, p = 0.01) and major vascular events (RR, 0.84; 95% CI 0.73-0.96, p < 0.01). But the risk of hemorrhagic stroke (RR, 1.59; 95% CI 1.08-2.33, p = 0.02) and major bleeding (RR, 1.83; 95% CI 1.37-2.45, p < 0.01) was increased. No RCT studied middle-term combination therapy. The analyses were therefore stratified into only two subgroups, short- and long-term treatment. Stratified analysis of short-term treatment showed that relative to monotherapy, the drug combination reduced the risk of stroke recurrence (RR, 0.69; 95% CI 0.59-0.81, p < 0.01) and did not increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke (RR, 1.23; 95% CI 0.50-3.04, p = 0.65) and major bleeding events (RR, 2.17; 95% CI 0.18-25.71, p = 0.54). Short-term combination therapy was associated with a significantly lower risk of major vascular events (RR, 0.70; 95% CI 0.69 to 0.82, p < 0.01). Stratified analysis of long-term treatment revealed that the combination treatment did not decrease the risk of stroke recurrence (RR, 0.92; 95% CI 0.83-1.03, p = 0.15), but was associated with a significantly higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke (RR, 1.67; 95% CI 1.10-2.56, p = 0.02) and major bleeding events (RR, 1.90; 95% CI 1.46-2.48, p < 0.01). Long-term combination therapy failed to reduce the risk of major vascular events (RR, 0.92; 95% CI 0.84-1.03, p = 0.09). Conclusions: Compared with monotherapy, short-term aspirin in combination with clopidogrel is more effective as secondary prevention of stroke or TIA without increasing the risk of hemorrhagic stroke and major bleeding events. Long-term combination therapy does not reduce the risk of stroke recurrence, and is associated with increased major bleeding events. The clinical applicability of the findings of this systematic review, however, needs to be confirmed in future clinical trials.


Stroke ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 3117-3123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Greisenegger ◽  
Helen C. Segal ◽  
Annette I. Burgess ◽  
Debbie L. Poole ◽  
Ziyah Mehta ◽  
...  

Stroke ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 32 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. 378-379
Author(s):  
Guven Uzun ◽  
Adnan Qureshi ◽  
Yousef M Mohammad ◽  
Osama Zaidat ◽  
Jose Suarez ◽  
...  

P216 Background and Purpose: The long-term outcome in patients with symptomatic vertebro-basilar stenosis is not well defined. We performed this study to determine the long-term risk of stroke or death in a large series of patients with vertebro-basilar stenosis. Methods: We identified patients admitted between January 1995 and December 1997 with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack related to stenosis in either the vertebral or basilar artery at 4 university hospitals. The stenosis was identified either by magnetic resonance angiography or conventional angiography. New ischemic events or death was identified during the follow-up period through clinic visits or telephone interviews. Results: A total of 77 patients (mean age 62.4 ±13.1 years; 43 were men) were identified with stenosis of either vertebral artery (n=28), basilar artery (n=26) or both (n=22). Of the 77 patients, 18 presented with transient ischemic attack and 59 with ischemic stroke. Eight patients died during hospitalization. Of the surviving 69 patients, 24 patients were treated with aspirin, 8 with ticlopidine or clopidogrel, 36 with warfarin and one patient received no treatment. The patients were followed for 47.4 ±35.8 months after the initial event. A total of 14 recurrent ischemic events were observed. The first year risk of new ischemic events for vertebro-basilar stenosis was 9%. The first year rate of ischemic events was similar between antiplatelet agents (9%) and warfarin (8%). Conclusions: A high rate of recurrent ischemic events was observed in patients with vertebro-basilar stenosis despite treatment with antiplatelet agents or anticoagulants.


Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 424-433
Author(s):  
Francisco Purroy ◽  
Mikel Vicente-Pascual ◽  
Gloria Arque ◽  
Mariona Baraldes-Rovira ◽  
Robert Begue ◽  
...  

Background and Purpose: Differences in sex in the incidence, presentation, and outcome of events after ischemic stroke have been studied in depth. In contrast, only limited data are available after transient ischemic attack (TIA). We aim to assess sex-related differences in the presentation, cause, neuroimaging features, and predictors of long-term prognosis in patients with TIA. Methods: We carried out a prospective cohort study of consecutive patients with TIA from January 2006 to June 2010. Nondefinitive TIA events were defined by the presence of isolated atypical symptoms. The risk of stroke recurrence (SR) and composite of major vascular events were stratified by sex after a median follow-up time of 6.5 (interquartile range, 5.0–9.6) years. Results: Among the 723 patients studied, 302 (41.8%) were female and 79 (10.9%) suffered a nondefinitive TIA event. Vascular territory diffusion-weighted imaging patterns (odds ratio, 1.61 [95% CI, 0.94–2.77]), and nondefinitive TIA events (odds ratio, 2.66 [95% CI, 1.55–4.59]) were associated with women, whereas active smoking (odds ratio, 0.30 [95% CI, 0.15–0.58]) and large artery atherosclerosis causes (odds ratio, 0.50 [95% CI, 0.29–0.83]) were related to men. The risk of SR was similar in both sexes (12.6% [95% CI, 8.9–16.3] for women versus 14.3% [95% CI, 11.0–17.6] for men). In contrast, the risk of major vascular events was significantly lower in women than in men (17.5% [95% CI, 13.2–21.8] versus 23.8% [95% CI, 19.7–27.9]). In both sexes, after adjusting for age, large artery atherosclerosis was associated with SR (hazard ratio, 3.22 [95% CI, 1.42–7.24] and hazard ratio, 2.00 [95% CI, 1.14–3.51]). In a Kaplan-Meier analysis, females with positive diffusion-weighted imaging ( P =0.014) and definitive TIA (log-rank test P =0.022) had a significantly higher risk of SR. Conclusions: Despite similar risks of SR, there were sex-related differences in baseline characteristics, presenting symptoms, patterns of acute ischemic lesions, cause, and outcomes. These findings encourage further research into optimal preventive strategies that take into account these differences.


Stroke ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 947-953 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hammad Rahman ◽  
Safi U. Khan ◽  
Fahad Nasir ◽  
Tehseen Hammad ◽  
Michael A. Meyer ◽  
...  

Background and Purpose— The role of aspirin plus clopidogrel (A+C) therapy compared with aspirin monotherapy in patients presenting with acute ischemic stroke (IS) or transient ischemic attack remains uncertain. We conducted this study to determine the optimal period of efficacy and safety of A+C compared with aspirin monotherapy. Methods— Ten randomized controlled trials (15 434 patients) were selected using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (inception June 2018) comparing A+C with aspirin monotherapy in patients with transient ischemic attack or IS. The primary efficacy outcome was recurrent IS, and the primary safety outcome was major bleeding. The secondary outcomes were major adverse cardiovascular events (composite of stroke, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular mortality) and all-cause mortality. We stratified analysis based on the short- (≤1 month), intermediate- (≤3 month), and long-term (>3 month) A+C therapy. Effects were estimated as relative risk (RR) with 95% CI. Results— A+C significantly reduced the risk of recurrent IS at short-term (RR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.37–0.78) and intermediate-term (RR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.58–0.90) durations. Similarly, major adverse cardiovascular event was significantly reduced by short-term (RR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.60–0.78) and intermediate-term (RR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.61–0.94) A+C therapy. However, long-term A+C did not yield beneficial effect in terms of recurrent IS (RR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.63–1.04) and major adverse cardiovascular events (RR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.71–1.07). Intermediate-term (RR, 2.58; 95% CI, 1.19–5.60) and long-term (RR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.36–2.56) A+C regimens significantly increased the risk of major bleeding as opposed to short-term A+C (RR, 1.82; 95% CI, 0.91–3.62). Excessive all-cause mortality was limited to long-term A+C (RR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.10–1.93). Conclusions— Short-term A+C is more effective and equally safe in comparison to aspirin alone in patients with acute IS or transient ischemic attack.


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