New data from three randomized clinical trials on the risks and benefits of antithrombotic drugs for patients who have an indication for such treatment but have had an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) have been presented.
The trials were presented at last week's European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC) 2021. The investigators did not reach any definitive conclusions, although the trials show that larger ones are feasible, and these are now being planned.
"These trials are the first of this kind which are daring to look at antithrombotic drugs in patients with a history of ICH," one of the leading investigators in this field, Rustam Salman, PhD, told Medscape Medical News.
Two studies of the use of oral anticoagulant drugs for patients who have recently experienced an ICH, APACHE-2 and SoSTART, were presented, as were long-term results from the RESTART trial, which investigated the use of antiplatelet drugs after an ICH.
"There are two important findings from these trials. First, antiplatelet drugs are unlikely to be harmful. Second, while oral anticoagulants drugs may increase the risk of recurrent ICH, the trade-off is that they probably reduce ischemic events," said Salman, who is professor of clinical neurology at the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
