Study assesses ischaemic and haemorrhagic risk linked with history of stroke or TIA

Heart and cerebro-vascular disorders represent the two leading causes of death throughout the world. They are sometimes combined in a single patient and their combination represents both a considerable risk to the patient and a therapeutic challenge.

Today's anti-thromobotic, blood-thinning medication provides effective treatment for coronary heart disease. Several randomised tests to assess new anti-thrombotic treatments in coronary patients have identified the fact that a history of stroke or TIA constitutes a marker for increased risk of intracranial bleeding that could prove fatal for the patient. The study was conducted by the Cardiology Service Team of the Bichat Hospital and INSERM Unit 698, working with several international teams, and consisted in monitoring and analysing 26,389 coronary patients from REACH, the international register of athero-thrombic patients, over a four-year period, in order to very accurately assess the ischaemic and haemorrhagic risk associated with a history of stroke or TIA in coronary patients.

The results of this study highlight the frequency of the phenomenon. It showed that 4,460 patients, 17% of the cohort of coronary patients, had a history of stroke or TIA. This stroke or TIA antecedent was associated, moreover, with an approximate 50% increase (in relation to coronary patients without a history of stroke) of dying from a heart attack or stroke, with increased risk of isch-mic and h-morrhagic stroke.

This study also aims at investigating the therapeutic challenge of treating such patients. In fact, higher doses of anti-platelet or anti-coagulant are associated with a particularly high increased risk of h-morrhage.

"The conclusions of the study are important since they emphasise the difficulty in treating this type of patient, a type that is frequent but whose prognosis is particularly serious. It also shows how important it is to provide the right anti-thrombotic treatment. Additional clinical trials are currently being conducted to test new treatment strategies for these patients", explained Professor Steg of the Cardiology Department at the H-pital Bichat.