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Abstract

Stroke is common during the first few weeks after a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor ischemic stroke. Combination therapy with clopidogrel and aspirin may provide greater protection against subsequent stroke than aspirin alone. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial conducted at 114 centers in China, we randomly assigned 5170 patients within 24 hours after the onset of minor ischemic stroke or high-risk TIA to combination therapy with clopidogrel and aspirin (clopidogrel at an initial dose of 300 mg, followed by 75 mg per day for 90 days, plus aspirin at a dose of 75 mg per day for the first 21 days) or to placebo plus aspirin (75 mg per day for 90 days). All participants received open-label aspirin at a clinician-determined dose of 75 to 300 mg on day 1. The primary outcome was stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic) during 90 days of follow-up in an intention-to-treat analysis. Treatment differences were assessed with the use of a Cox proportional-hazards model, with study center as a random effect. Stroke occurred in 8.2% of patients in the clopidogrel-aspirin group, as compared with 11.7% of those in the aspirin group (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% confidence interval, 0.57 to 0.81; P<0.001). Moderate or severe hemorrhage occurred in seven patients (0.3%) in the clopidogrel-aspirin group and in eight (0.3%) in the aspirin group (P=0.73); the rate of hemorrhagic stroke was 0.3% in each group. Among patients with TIA or minor stroke who can be treated within 24 hours after the onset of symptoms, the combination of clopidogrel and aspirin is superior to aspirin alone for reducing the risk of stroke in the first 90 days and does not increase the risk of hemorrhage. (Funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China; CHANCE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00979589.).

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Stroke and stroke care in China: huge burden, significant workload, and a national priority.

Liping Liu, David Wang, K S Lawrence Wong … (2011)

At the same time as the world recognizes the rapid economic development in China, Chinese healthcare system has also had significant improvement. However, this nation of 1.4 billion faces tough challenges in treating stroke, the leading cause of death in China. The recently completed Chinese National Stroke Registry has provided new information on the status of stroke epidemiology, diagnosis, management, and prevention strategies in China. In this article, we summarized these new findings, described the effort of providing and improving stroke care, and illustrated the challenges in risk factor modification and secondary stroke prevention. Well-designed epidemiological surveys and clinical trials for stroke prevention and management are still urgently needed in China.

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Global variation in stroke burden and mortality: estimates from monitoring, surveillance, and modelling.

S Johnston, Shanthi Mendis, Colin D Mathers (2009)

Recent improvements in the monitoring and modelling of stroke have led to more reliable estimates of stroke mortality and burden worldwide. However, little is known about the global distribution of stroke and its relations to the prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors and sociodemographic and economic characteristics. National estimates of stroke mortality and burden (measured in disability-adjusted life years [DALYs]) were calculated from monitoring vital statistics, a systematic review of studies that report disease surveillance, and modelling as part of the WHO Global Burden of Disease programme. Similar methods were used to generate standardised measures of the national prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors. Risk factors other than diabetes and disease burden estimates were age-adjusted and sex-adjusted to the WHO standard population. There was a ten-fold difference in rates of stroke mortality and DALY loss between the most-affected and the least-affected countries. Rates of stroke mortality and DALY loss were highest in eastern Europe, north Asia, central Africa, and the south Pacific. National per capita income was the strongest predictor of mortality and DALY loss rates (p<0.0001) even after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors (p<0.0001). Prevalences of cardiovascular risk factors measured at a national level were generally poor predictors of national stroke mortality rates and burden, although raised mean systolic blood pressure (p=0.028) and low body-mass index (p=0.017) predicted stroke mortality, and greater prevalence of smoking predicted both stroke mortality (p=0.041) and DALY-loss rates (p=0.034). Rates of stroke mortality and burden vary greatly among countries, but low-income countries are the most affected. Current measures of the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors at the population level poorly predict overall stroke mortality and burden and do not explain the greater burden in low-income countries.