Can Covert Infarcts Be Prevented in Patients with Stroke and Atrial Cardiopathy?

A substudy of the ARCADIA trial found fewer nonlacunar strokes in patients treated with apixaban compared with aspirin, but uncertainty persists.

Aiming to reduce recurrent stroke in patients with embolic stroke of unknown source (ESUS), recent trials have compared direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) to aspirin, but results have been neutral. For example, the ARCADIA trial compared apixaban versus aspirin in patients with ESUS and evidence of atrial cardiopathy, finding no difference. Now, researchers report results of an MRI substudy of ARCADIA, in which patients underwent a baseline and end-of-study MRI. This analysis compares the rate of MRI-detected covert (silent), nonlacunar stroke in the two treatment groups.

Of the 1015 patients in the parent trial, 310 patients enrolled in the MRI substudy, of whom 174 patients had image quality sufficient for analysis. In these 174 patients (…

Reviewing Author

Seemant Chaturvedi, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBayer Pharmaceuticals; Novartis

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Editorial BoardsNeurology; Stroke

Seemant Chaturvedi, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardBayer Pharmaceuticals; Novartis

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Editorial BoardsNeurology; Stroke

Can Covert Infarcts Be Prevented in Patients with Stroke and Atrial Cardiopathy?

Topics

Reviewing Author