Aspirin Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease [Meta-analysis]

In patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD), aspirin significantly reduces the risk of non-fatal stroke according to a new meta-analysis. The JAMA study by Jeffrey S. Berger et al of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia is entitled - Aspirin for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Trials.

Key points of the study were:

• Meta-analysis of 18 trials, which including 5,269 patients; 2,823 were randomized to aspirin therapy (and of these, 1,516 received aspirin monotherapy) and 2,446 were randomized to placebo / control.
• A total of 251 (8.9%) cardiovascular events occurred among patients receiving any aspirin therapy compared with 269 (11.0%) events among the control patients.
• The calculated 12 % reduction in cardiovascular event rates was not statistically significant.
• The risk of nonfatal stroke was significantly lower (34%) in the aspirin group than in the placebo group (event rates of 1.8% vrs. 3.1%)
• There was no significant reductions in all-cause mortality, or cardiovascular death, heart attack, or major bleeding in patients receiving any aspirin therapy.
• 125 cardiovascular events occurred among 1,516 patients (8.2%) receiving aspirin monotherapy 144 events among 1,503 patients (9.6%) in the placebo / control groups.
• Aspirin monotherapy was associated with a 36% reduction in the risk of nonfatal stroke (2.1% vrs. 3.4%).
• There was no significant reductions in all-cause mortality, or cardiovascular death, heart attack, or major bleeding in patients receiving aspirin monotherapy.

Reference:
Berger et al.
Aspirin for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Trials.
JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2009; 301 (18): 1909
DOI: 10.1001/jama.2009.623

Tags: Aspirin - Berger - Cardiovascular Events - Stroke - Peripheral Artery Disease
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