International study suggests combination therapy may prevent second stroke in certain people

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Results from POINT, an international clinical trial of more than 4,880 participants, were presented at the European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC; 16-18 May, Gothenberg, Sweden) and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine, show that combining clopidogrel and aspirin following a small stroke or experiencing minor stroke symptoms decreases risk of a new stroke, heart attack or other ischaemic event within 90 days. The combination therapy was also associated with an increase in major bleeding, although many of those episodes were non-fatal and did not occur in the brain.

“These findings are likely to have a global effect on clinical practice, as these drugs are easily available in many hospitals and clinics,” said Walter Koroshetz, director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. “As the benefit of the combination was concentrated in the first two weeks while risk of bleeding was constant over 90 days, it may be especially valuable in acute management of a minor ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA).”

The Platelet-Oriented Inhibition in New TIA and minor ischaemic stroke (POINT) clinical trial follows an earlier study, which showed benefits of this drug combination in a Chinese population. POINT was conducted to see whether the benefits could be expanded to a more diverse group of patients.

The study, led by S. Claiborne Johnston, dean and professor of neurology at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin, USA, included patients who had experienced either a minor stroke or a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), in which blood supply to a part of the brain is briefly stopped and can be a risk factor for a larger stroke. Study participants were given clopidogrel and aspirin or aspirin alone to see whether the combination therapy could prevent a larger stroke within three months.

Johnston’s team found that the combination of clopidogrel and aspirin prevented more ischaemic events, such as stroke and heart attack, compared to aspirin alone. The results showed that 5% of patients in the combination therapy group and 6.5% of patients taking only aspirin experienced such an event within 90 days. However, the combination therapy was associated with a greater risk of major bleeding, or haemorrhage, than aspirin alone. In the aspirin-only group, 0.4% of patients suffered a major haemorrhage but 0.9% of patients taking clopidogrel and aspirin had severe bleeding.

The findings suggest that for 1000 patients, clopidogrel plus aspirin would prevent 15 ischaemic attacks but may cause five instances of major haemorrhage. The majority of these haemorrhages occurred outside of the brain and were not fatal.

“We saw a real benefit with the combination therapy, but that treatment does come with a risk,” said Johnston. “Overall, the risk of severe bleeding was very small, but it was not zero.”

The study was stopped early because the combination therapy was found to be more effective than aspirin alone in preventing severe strokes but also due to the risk of severe haemorrhage.

Clopidogrel and aspirin prevent platelets from sticking together and forming clots in blood vessels, although they work in different ways. Aspirin blocks molecules that activate the clotting process while clopidogrel prevents a specific chemical from attaching to a receptor.

“Each year, strokes cause millions of disabilities around the world and preventing many of those would lead to not only tremendous health savings, but improved quality of life for many individuals and their families,” said Johnston.


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