Association of antiplatelet therapy with lower risk of death and recurrent cerebrovascular events after ischemic stroke--results from the China Ischemic Stroke Registry Study.
BACKGROUND
Evidence of the beneficial effects of antiplatelet therapy after ischemic stroke is currently lacking in China.


RESULTS
Demographic data, pre-stroke risk factors, severity of neurological deficit, and disability graded by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and Modified Rankin Scale (MRS) of 1,951 patients were measured and recorded at baseline. Regular follow-up by interview was performed for 12 months post-recruitment. The all-cause mortality was 1.88 per 100 person-years during the follow-up period. Recurrent fatal and nonfatal cerebrovascular events occurred in 90 patients, accounting for 4.24 per 100 person-years of cumulative incidence. After adjustment by other variables, antiplatelet therapy was identified as an independent protective predictor of all-cause death (hazard ratio (HR) 0.42; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.21-0.86; P=0.017) and recurrent cerebrovascular events (HR 0.58; 95%CI 0.36-0.92; P=0.021). Among survivors, antiplatelet therapy was also an independent predictor for improvement in the NIHSS (HR 1.27; 95%CI 1.07-1.51; P=0.006) and the MRS (HR 1.25; 95%CI 1.02-1.52; P=0.031).


CONCLUSIONS
The data from this multicenter, prospective study confirmed the association between antiplatelet therapy and decreased risk of all-cause mortality and recurrent cerebrovascular events after ischemic stroke in Chinese patients.
Ding
Ding
D
Institute of Neurology, WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Training in Neuroscience, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Lu
Chuan-Zhen
CZ
Fu
Jian-Hui
JH
Hong
Zhen
Z
D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012042:Registries; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020521:Stroke / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D013997:Time Factors
D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors