Antiplatelet Therapy in Acute Mild-Moderate Ischemic Stroke

The risk of early recurrence or progression of acute ischemic stroke is very high, even in patients treated with aspirin. The Chance study show that clopidogrel plus aspirin treatment reduced the risk of recurrent stroke in patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor ischemic stroke (NIHSS ≤ 3) within 24 hour onset and was not associated with increased hemorrhage events, compared with aspirin monotherapy. However, it is not known whether the dual antiplatelet treatment could reduce the risk of early recurrence or progression in patients with acute mild to moderate ischemic stroke (4 ≤ NIHSS ≤ 10). The investigators hypothesise that clopidogrel-aspirin treatment will be superior to aspirin monotherapy in this group of patients.