Dual antiplatelet therapy after stroke ‘beneficial up to 90 days’
Dual antiplatelet therapy reduces the risk of recurrent stroke more than single antiplatelet therapy but only when initiated promptly and continued for less than 90 days, a review shows.
The systematic review and meta-analysis, by a committee of the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association, was commissioned to provide evidence for a 2021 update of guidelines on prevention of recurrent stroke.
The team’s aim was to compare the risks and benefits of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) with single antiplatelet therapy (SAPT) in the five years post-stroke.
The authors included phase III or IV randomised controlled trials from 1999 to 2019 that compared DAPT with SAPT and enrolled at least 100 patients with ischaemic stroke or TIA.
