Utilizing Aspirin to Lower Stroke Rates in Cerebral Amyloid Antipathy: Sheheryar Jamali, MD

"The risk of intracranial hemorrhage increases by 9% per year in these patients, which is well known in the literature. But there is also a risk of ischemic stroke, which needs more attention.”

A prospective, observational study presented at the 2021 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting, April 17-22, explored the use of aspirin, an antiplatelet therapy, in preventing ischemic stroke among patients with cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Led by Sheheryar A. Jamali, MD, the data showed less incidents of ischemic stroke in patients on (31%) versus off aspirin (69%) supporting benefit of aspirin use for prevention of ischemic stroke.

Additional data showed that less incidents of hemorrhagic stroke occurred in patients on aspirin (18%) versus not on aspirin (82%), which may support aspirin being safe. Despite these results, the study was limited by small sample size and did not reach any statistically significant conclusions.

Jamali, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic, sat down with NeurologyLive to discuss his findings, as well as provide context on the amount of literature in patients with cerebral amyloid antipathy. He also discussed the need for future research in this area of stroke prevention.

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REFERENCE

Jamali S, Lin M. Incident ischemic stroke and intracranial hemorrhage in patients with cerebral amyloid angiopathy on aspirin versus none. Presented at 2021 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting; April 17-22. Abstract P5 219