Secondary stroke prevention with low-dose aspirin, sustained release dipyridamole alone and in combination. ESPS Investigators. European Stroke Prevention Study.

Patients who had survived a stroke or transient ischaemic attacks (TIA) were admitted to a trial of low-dose aspirin (50 mg) alone, sustained release dipyridamole (400 mg/day) alone, or a combination of the two agents, and results compared with a placebo over 24 months. This low-dose aspirin regimen produced in pairwise comparisons a significant risk reduction of 18% for stroke, 13% for stroke and/or death but no reduction in all cause mortality. The sustained release dipyridamole produced a significant risk reduction of 16% for stroke, 15% for stroke and/or death but no significant reduction of mortality. In combination, aspirin and dipyridamole produced a risk reduction of 37% in stroke, 24% in stroke and/or death, and no reduction in mortality. Similar findings were found in TIA, which was a secondary endpoint. These results are highly significant in comparison with placebo. As expected, there were enhanced reports of alimentary side-effects in the aspirin groups and also enhanced bleeding. Dipyridamole was associated with a slight increase in headache, which resolved in most patients if therapy was continued. The conclusions are that 50 mg/day of aspirin alone or 400 mg/day of sustained release dipyridamole alone are equally effective in stroke and TIA prevention. When used in combination the effects were additive and were significantly more effective than the single agents.