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Effects of aspirin on risk and severity of early recurrent stroke after transient ischaemic attack and ischaemic stroke : Time-course analysis of randomised trials

Rothwell, Peter M. ; Algra, Ale ; Chen, Zhengming ; Diener, Hans Christoph ; Norrving, Bo LU and Mehta, Ziyah (2016) In The Lancet 388(10042). p.365-375
Abstract

Background: Aspirin is recommended for secondary prevention after transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or ischaemic stroke on the basis of trials showing a 13% reduction in long-term risk of recurrent stroke. However, the risk of major stroke is very high for only the first few days after TIA and minor ischaemic stroke, and observational studies show substantially greater benefits of early medical treatment in the acute phase than do longer-term trials. We hypothesised that the short-term benefits of early aspirin have been underestimated. Methods: Pooling the individual patient data from all randomised trials of aspirin versus control in secondary prevention after TIA or ischaemic stroke, we studied the effects of aspirin on the risk and... (More)

Background: Aspirin is recommended for secondary prevention after transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or ischaemic stroke on the basis of trials showing a 13% reduction in long-term risk of recurrent stroke. However, the risk of major stroke is very high for only the first few days after TIA and minor ischaemic stroke, and observational studies show substantially greater benefits of early medical treatment in the acute phase than do longer-term trials. We hypothesised that the short-term benefits of early aspirin have been underestimated. Methods: Pooling the individual patient data from all randomised trials of aspirin versus control in secondary prevention after TIA or ischaemic stroke, we studied the effects of aspirin on the risk and severity of recurrent stroke, stratified by the following time periods: less than 6 weeks, 6-12 weeks, and more than 12 weeks after randomisation. We compared the severity of early recurrent strokes between treatment groups with shift analysis of modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score. To understand possible mechanisms of action, we also studied the time course of the interaction between effects of aspirin and dipyridamole in secondary prevention of stroke. In a further analysis we pooled data from trials of aspirin versus control in which patients were randomised less than 48 h after major acute stroke, stratified by severity of baseline neurological deficit, to establish the very early time course of the effect of aspirin on risk of recurrent ischaemic stroke and how this differs by severity at baseline. Findings: We pooled data for 15 778 participants from 12 trials of aspirin versus control in secondary prevention. Aspirin reduced the 6 week risk of recurrent ischaemic stroke by about 60% (84 of 8452 participants in the aspirin group had an ischaemic stroke vs 175 of 7326; hazard ratio [HR] 0·42, 95% CI 0·32-0·55, p

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
The Lancet
volume
388
issue
10042
pages
365 - 375
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:84975476671
ISSN
0140-6736
DOI
10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30468-8
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
48742128-aa69-4e75-b36b-fb6a24646427
date added to LUP
2016-07-21 14:37:52
date last changed
2022-04-24 08:33:10
@article{48742128-aa69-4e75-b36b-fb6a24646427,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Aspirin is recommended for secondary prevention after transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or ischaemic stroke on the basis of trials showing a 13% reduction in long-term risk of recurrent stroke. However, the risk of major stroke is very high for only the first few days after TIA and minor ischaemic stroke, and observational studies show substantially greater benefits of early medical treatment in the acute phase than do longer-term trials. We hypothesised that the short-term benefits of early aspirin have been underestimated. Methods: Pooling the individual patient data from all randomised trials of aspirin versus control in secondary prevention after TIA or ischaemic stroke, we studied the effects of aspirin on the risk and severity of recurrent stroke, stratified by the following time periods: less than 6 weeks, 6-12 weeks, and more than 12 weeks after randomisation. We compared the severity of early recurrent strokes between treatment groups with shift analysis of modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score. To understand possible mechanisms of action, we also studied the time course of the interaction between effects of aspirin and dipyridamole in secondary prevention of stroke. In a further analysis we pooled data from trials of aspirin versus control in which patients were randomised less than 48 h after major acute stroke, stratified by severity of baseline neurological deficit, to establish the very early time course of the effect of aspirin on risk of recurrent ischaemic stroke and how this differs by severity at baseline. Findings: We pooled data for 15 778 participants from 12 trials of aspirin versus control in secondary prevention. Aspirin reduced the 6 week risk of recurrent ischaemic stroke by about 60% (84 of 8452 participants in the aspirin group had an ischaemic stroke vs 175 of 7326; hazard ratio [HR] 0·42, 95% CI 0·32-0·55, p</p>}},
  author       = {{Rothwell, Peter M. and Algra, Ale and Chen, Zhengming and Diener, Hans Christoph and Norrving, Bo and Mehta, Ziyah}},
  issn         = {{0140-6736}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10042}},
  pages        = {{365--375}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{The Lancet}},
  title        = {{Effects of aspirin on risk and severity of early recurrent stroke after transient ischaemic attack and ischaemic stroke : Time-course analysis of randomised trials}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30468-8}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30468-8}},
  volume       = {{388}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}