secondary prevention after a TIA or ischemic stroke

stroke ; second most common cause of death after myocardial infarction a leading cause of acquired disability. Patients with stroke are at high risk for subsequent vascular events, including recurrent stroke (highest risk), myocardial infarction, and death from vascular causes.

at least 80% of recurrent events might be prevented with ; 1- life style 2-blood-pressure lowering, 3- antiplatelet therapy, and 4-statin therapy.

TIA definition TIAs were traditionally defined as brief neurologic episodes of vascular origin lasting less than 24 hours. More recently, TIAs have been classified as transient neurologic events without signs of acute infarction on imaging.

classification for ischemic stroke 1- cardioembolism (most commonly from atrial fibrillation) 2- large-artery disease 3- small-vessel occlusion (lacunar stroke), 4- stroke of other cause (e.g., arterial dissection, drug-related stroke, or a hypercoagulable disorder) 5- Cryptogenic stroke up to 30%

three principal strategies for secondary prevention, 1- Blood pressure 2- lowering, cholesterol lowering with statins 3- antiplatelet therapy (except in patients in whom anticoagulant therapy is indicated).

Antiplatelet Therapy 4 main Antiplatelet ; Aspirin clopidogrel Ticlopidine dipyridamole

Antiplatelet Therapy Early phase (90days>) vs late phase (90<)

Early phase Early phase of stroke associated with higher risk of stroke recurrence than late. Short-term use of the combination of aspirin and clopidogrel in early phase the rate of stroke recurrence at 90 days ; 10.8% in aspirin versus 7.1% in combined aspirin and clopidogrel.

Late phase; Aspirin; a meta analysis of trials suggested that aspirin reduced the risk of subsequent vascular events by only 13%; Low doses of aspirin (ranging from 75 to 325 mg per day) appear to be as effective as higher doses in reducing the risk of stroke

clopidogrel were shown in randomized trials to be superior to aspirin, but the absolute benefits were very small. For patients intolerant to aspirin because of allergy or gastrointestinal side effects, clopidogrel is an appropriate choice.

Combination therapy the combination of aspirin plus dipyridamole were shown in randomized trials to be superior to aspirin without increasing risk of hemorrhage, but the absolute benefits were very small.

Combination therapy clopidogrel + aspirin ; Randomized trials have shown no benefit, and increased hemorrhagic risks, with the combined use of clopidogrel and aspirin as compared with clopidogrel alone or aspirin alone for long-term secondary prevention after stroke.

Recommendation Current guidelines indicate that aspirin alone, clopidogrel, or aspirin plus dipyridamole are all acceptable first line options in secondary stroke prevention.

Blood-Pressure Lowering Blood pressure is the most important modifiable risk factor in both primary and secondary prevention of stroke. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials confirm an approximate 30% to 40% stroke risk reduction with BP lowering. benefits have been linked to absolute blood- pressure reductions of approximately 10/5 mm Hg

Whether the benefits of blood-pressure lowering depend on the particular class of antihypertensive drugs or simply on the antihypertensive effect of all such drugs remains controversial, although most of the evidence appears to support the latter.

Cholesterol Lowering with Statins effective in primary and secondary stroke prevention Secondary- prevention guidelines recommend 1- start; if LDL cholesterol level of >= aim; the level by at least 50% or achieving a =<70.

Carotid Endarterectomy and Carotid- Artery Stenting Carotid endarterectomy is indicated for the treatment of patients with a history of TIA or nondisabling ischemic stroke who have high- grade (70 to 99%) carotid stenosis or, in selected cases, moderate (50 to 69%) stenosis no benefit in those with mild (<50%) stenosis

timing of carotid endarterectomy after a TIA or ischemic stroke involves balancing the risk of early recurrent events with the risk of reperfusion injury and hemorrhagic transformation. Early intervention, within 2 weeks after the onset of symptoms, is now recommended, given evidence that the benefits of surgery rapidly diminish with increasing time since the ischemic event

carotid-artery stenting The use of carotid-artery stenting as an alternative to carotid endarterectomy is more controversial. Carotid-artery stenting is less invasive than endarterectomy and is associated with a more rapid recovery. However, studies have shown that the periprocedural risks (chiefly death and recurrent stroke within 30 days) are significantly higher with carotid-artery stenting than with carotid endarterectomy

Among patients with symptomatic severe stenosis (>70%) in whom the stenosis is difficult to access surgically, medical conditions with increase the risk of surgery, radiation-induced stenosis or restenosis after CEA, CAS is not inferior to endarterectomy and may be considered.

Cardiogenic embolism Cardiogenic cerebral embolism derived from a diversity of cardiac disorders is responsible for '20% of ischemic strokes. Transesophageal echocardiography is an appropriate method to investigate people younger than 45 years of age with suspected cardiogenic emboli, and older people without signs of cardiac disease like AF and CHF. Transthoracic echocardiography generally is adequate when clinical evidence of cardiac disease is present. Twenty-four-hour continuous (Holter) ECG monitoring for detection of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation

cardiac conditions with high embolic potential include acute MI, infective endocarditis, rheumatic mitral stenosis, mechanical prosthetic heart valves, dilate cardiomyopathy, and cardiac tumors Low or uncertain embolic risk disorders include aortic valve calcification, calcific aortic stenosis, remote MI, left ventricular aneurysm, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, patent foramen ovale (PFO), atrial septal aneurysm (ASA), atrial flutter

Anticoagulation & AF Warfarin has also been shown to be more effective than aspirin or the combination of aspirin plus clopidogrel for secondary prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. For patients with ischemic stroke or TIA with persistent or paroxysmal (intermittent) AF, anticoagulation with adjusted-dose warfarin (target INR, 2.5; range, 2.0 to 3.0) is recommended For patients unable to take oral anticoagulants, aspirin 325 mg/d is recommended

Anticoagulation & Acute MI and Left Ventricular Thrombus For patients with an ischemic stroke or TIA caused by an acute MI with LV mural thrombus, oral anticoagulation is reasonable, aiming for an INR of 2.0 to 3.0 for at least 3 months and up to 1 year Aspirin should be used concurrently for ischemic coronary artery disease during oral anticoagulant therapy in doses up to 162 mg/d

Prosthetic heart valves For patients with ischemic stroke or TIA who have modern mechanical prosthetic heart valves, oral anticoagulants are recommended, with an INR target of 3.0 (range, 2.5–3.5). For patients with mechanical prosthetic heart valves who have an ischemic stroke or systemic embolism despite adequate therapy with oral anticoagulants, aspirin 75 to 100 mg/d, in addition to oral anticoagulants, and maintenance of the INR at a target of 3.0 (range, 2.5–3.5) is reasonable.

Newer Anticoagulation dabigatran,Rivaroxaban, Apixaban Do not require monitoring dabigatran (a direct thrombin inhibitor); at a dose of 150 mg twice per day, was superior to warfarin in the prevention of stroke or systemic embolism, with a similar risk of overall major bleeding but a significantly lower risk of intracranial hemorrhage. At a lower dose (110 mg twice per day), dabigatran was noninferior to warfarin, with a lower risk of overall major bleeding.

Coag-Sense Self-Test PT Monitoring System