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. pre-stroke risk factors, severity of neurological deficit, and disability Methods and Results: Demographic data. 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 (FIR 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. (Circ J 2009; 73: 2342-2347)