CardioExchange Archive

December 2nd, 2010

AHA Releases Updated Stroke Prevention Guidelines

Larry Husten, PHD

Here’s the good news, according to Larry Goldstein, the chairman of the statement writing committee for the revised American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Guidelines for the Primary Prevention of Stroke: “Between 1999 and 2006, there’s been over a 30 percent reduction in stroke death rates in the United States and we think the majority of the […]

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November 5th, 2010

Meta-Analysis Turns Up Mixed Results for Vitamin E on Stroke Subtypes

Larry Husten, PHD

In a meta-analysis appearing in BMJ, vitamin E supplements had no effect on the overall rate of stroke but were associated with a small reduction in the risk of ischemic stroke and a slightly larger increase in the risk of hemorrhagic stroke. Markus Schürks and colleagues analyzed data from 9 trials including 118,765 subjects. Although […]

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August 31st, 2010

Apixaban Beats Aspirin for Stroke Prevention in AF

Larry Husten, PHD

The AVERROES (Apixaban Versus Acetylsalicylic Acid (ASA) to Prevent Strokes) trial randomized 5600 AF patients who were unable to take warfarin to receive either aspirin or apixaban, a factor Xa inhibitor. (Another trial still underway, ARISTOTLE, is a direct comparison of warfarin and apixaban in AF.) AVERROES was stopped early after the Data Monitoring Committee […]

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August 3rd, 2010

Vitamin B Trial Finds No Clinically Significant Benefit

Larry Husten, PHD

The VITATOPS (The VITAmins TO Prevent Stroke) Trial randomized 8164 patients with recent stroke or TIA to either placebo or B vitamins. After a median followup of 3.4 years, the primary endpoint — the combined incidence of stroke, MI, or vascular death — occurred in 616 patients in the B vitamin group and 678 in the placebo […]

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