Antithrombotic Therapy With Regulation of Blood Pressure in Non-Cardioembolic Progressive Stroke

Stroke has become the leading cause of death in China, with acute ischemic stroke still progressing within one week of onset, known as progressive ischemic stroke (PIS), which has a high rate of disability and mortality, accounting for 23-43% of the incidence of stroke. Non-cardioembolic PIS is one of the common types, and the current treatment mainly focuses on antithrombotic therapy, but the therapeutic effect is not satisfactory. More and more evidence suggests that hypotension is an unfavorable factor for PIS, so this study intends to explore the efficacy and safety of antithrombotic therapy with regulation of blood pressure in non-cardioembolic PIS.

Study Overview

• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Conditions: Stroke, Ischemic
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Control group; Other: Intervention group

Detailed Description

This is a single-center randomized controlled study conducted to explore the efficacy and safety of antithrombotic therapy with regulation of blood pressure in non-cardioembolic PIS.

We plan to recruit 70 patients with non-cardioembolic PIS. All subjects are of Han ethnicity, aged 18 years or older. Gender and age will be statistical data after enrollment. Patients will participate in the study after informed consent.

Then patients who meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to the control group (antithrombotic therapy) or the intervention group (antithrombotic + blood pressure control therapy). In addition to antithrombotic therapy, the intervention group will use medications such as dopamine, metaraminol, or midodrine to control systolic blood pressure within the range of 160-180 mmHg and maintain it for one week.

Patients will be followed up at 2 weeks for mRS (Modified Rankin Scale) and NIHSS (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale) scores，and at one month for mRS scores, and at three months for mRS and BI (Barthel Index) scores.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 70
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Shanghai
    • Shanghai, Shanghai, China, 201800
      • Ruijin North Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Adults (aged ≥18 years) with an AIS who have been able to complete usual activities in daily life without support before the stroke;

2. One of the following PIS manifestations:

   1. Within 7 days of onset, when symptom worsens and there are new lesions or infarct growth on DWI within 24 hours of aggravation, the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score increases by ≥ 2 points ;
   2. Within 24 hours after IVT, when symptom worsens and there are new lesions or infarct growth on DWI within 24 hours of aggravation, the NIHSS score increases by ≥ 4 points compared to the baseline;
3. Within 3h of stroke progression, ≥2 successive measurements of systolic blood pressure (SBP) < 160 mm Hg for >10 min.
4. Computed tomographic angiography (CTA), magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), or digital subtraction angiography (DSA) confirms patients without visible large or medium-sized intracranial vessel occlusion.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. After stroke progression, a head CT confirmed new cerebral hemorrhage or hemorrhagic transformation.
2. Endovascualr treatment had been performed before stroke progression (thrombectomy, stent placement, balloon dilatation) or if surgery or interventional treatment had been scheduled;
3. Current treatment with heparin therapy or oral anticoagulation (presumed cardiac source of embolus, such as atrial fibrillation, prosthetic cardiac valve, and known or suspected endocarditis);
4. Previous diseases of the brain that include intracranial hemorrhage or amyloid angiopathy; brain surgery or hemorrhagic stroke; stroke within the last three months;
5. Preexisting serious diseases: Cancer, AIDS, serious heart disease, dementia, liver diseases such as liver failure, cirrhosis, portal hypertension and active hepatitis, acute or chronic severe renal impairment (glomerular filtration rate < 30 ml/min/1·73 m2 );
6. Contraindication to aspirin or clopidogrel;
7. Pregnant and lactating women.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Control group; After stroke progression, all patients receive dual antiplatelet therapy (aspirin 100mg/day combined with clopidogrel 75mg/day) for the first 21 days, except in cases of cerebral hemorrhage. After this period, they continue to take aspirin 100mg/day orally for the long term.	Other: Control group; After stroke progression, all patients receive dual antiplatelet therapy (aspirin 100mg/day combined with clopidogrel 75mg/day) for the first 21 days, except in cases of cerebral hemorrhage. After this period, they continue to take aspirin 100mg/day orally for the long term.
Experimental: Intervention group; After stroke progression, all patients receive dual antiplatelet therapy (aspirin 100mg/day combined with clopidogrel 75mg/day) for the first 21 days, except in cases of cerebral hemorrhage. After this period, they continue to take aspirin 100mg/day orally for the long term. In terms of blood pressure control, medications such as dopamine, metaraminol, or midodrine are used to achieve a systolic blood pressure target range of 160-180 mmHg within 1 h of random assignment and to maintain this target for 7 days (or death, should this event occur earlier). BP measurements are routinely captured using automated devices fitted to the unaffected arm, following the protocol recommended by the standard guideline. The readings are taken at 15-minute intervals for the initial hour, hourly from the first to the sixth hour, every six hours from 6 to 24 hours, and then twice daily for 7 days (or death, if earlier). Subsequently, these data are uploaded into the research database.	Other: Intervention group; After stroke progression, all patients receive dual antiplatelet therapy (aspirin 100mg/day combined with clopidogrel 75mg/day) for the first 21 days, except in cases of cerebral hemorrhage. After this period, they continue to take aspirin 100mg/day orally for the long term. In terms of blood pressure control, medications such as dopamine, metaraminol, or midodrine are used to achieve a systolic blood pressure target range of 160-180 mmHg within 1 h of random assignment and to maintain this target for 7 days (or death, should this event occur earlier). BP measurements are routinely captured using automated devices fitted to the unaffected arm, following the protocol recommended by the standard guideline. The readings are taken at 15-minute intervals for the initial hour, hourly from the first to the sixth hour, every six hours from 6 to 24 hours, and then twice daily for 7 days (or death, if earlier). Subsequently, these data are uploaded into the research database.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
percentage of patients with an excellent outcome（mRS score 0-1）at 90 days after randomization	modified Rankin scale (mRS，an ordinal global disability scale with scores ranging from 0 [no symptoms] to 6 [death]) at 90 days after randomization. An excellent outcome is defined as score of 0 or 1 on the mRS score at 90 days.	at 90 days after randomization

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
proportion of patients with outcome measured by the Barthel index (BI)	outcome measured by the Barthel index (BI)，≥ 95 for the BI	at 90 days after randomization
proportion of patients with outcome measured by mRS	outcome measured by mRS，0-2 for mRS	at 90 days after randomization
proportion of patients with an excellent outcome	proportion of patients with an excellent outcome（0-1 for the mRS）	at 2 weeks after randomization and at day 30 after randomization
proportion of patients with functional independence	proportion of patients with functional independence (0-2 for the mRS)	at 2 weeks after randomization and at day 30 after randomization
proportion of patients with outcome measured by NIHSS	outcome measured by NIHSS (0-1 for the NIHSS)	at 2 weeks after randomization
proportion of patients with severe or moderate bleeding	severe or moderate bleeding，as defined by the Global Utilization of Streptokinase and Tissue Plasminogen Activator for Occluded Coronary Arteries (GUSTO) criteria	at 90 days after randomization
proportion of patients with any bleeding	any bleeding，such as nasal bleeding, gingival bleeding, skin ecchymosis, etc.	at 90 days after randomization
proportion of patients with death	all cause of death	at 90 days after randomization
proportion of patients with adverse events	adverse events，such as allergic reaction，symptoms of hypertensive encephalopathy，etc.	at 90 days after randomization
proportion of patients with severe adverse events	severe adverse events, as defined by serious drug side effects and serious unexpected events during the study.	at 90 days after randomization

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ruijin Hospital

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Helleberg BH, Ellekjaer H, Indredavik B. Outcomes after Early Neurological Deterioration and Transitory Deterioration in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients. Cerebrovasc Dis. 2016;42(5-6):378-386. doi: 10.1159/000447130. Epub 2016 Jun 29.
• Jorgensen HS, Nakayama H, Raaschou HO, Olsen TS. Effect of blood pressure and diabetes on stroke in progression. Lancet. 1994 Jul 16;344(8916):156-9. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(94)92757-x.
• Yang P, Song L, Zhang Y, Zhang X, Chen X, Li Y, Sun L, Wan Y, Billot L, Li Q, Ren X, Shen H, Zhang L, Li Z, Xing P, Zhang Y, Zhang P, Hua W, Shen F, Zhou Y, Tian B, Chen W, Han H, Zhang L, Xu C, Li T, Peng Y, Yue X, Chen S, Wen C, Wan S, Yin C, Wei M, Shu H, Nan G, Liu S, Liu W, Cai Y, Sui Y, Chen M, Zhou Y, Zuo Q, Dai D, Zhao R, Li Q, Huang Q, Xu Y, Deng B, Wu T, Lu J, Wang X, Parsons MW, Butcher K, Campbell B, Robinson TG, Goyal M, Dippel D, Roos Y, Majoie C, Wang L, Wang Y, Liu J, Anderson CS; ENCHANTED2/MT Investigators. Intensive blood pressure control after endovascular thrombectomy for acute ischaemic stroke (ENCHANTED2/MT): a multicentre, open-label, blinded-endpoint, randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2022 Nov 5;400(10363):1585-1596. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)01882-7. Epub 2022 Oct 28. Erratum In: Lancet. 2022 Dec 3;400(10367):1926. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(22)02427-8.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 15, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 15, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 6, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 8, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): August 13, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 16, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 11, 2024
• Last Verified: October 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Cardiovascular Diseases; Vascular Diseases; Cerebrovascular Disorders; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Stroke; Ischemic Stroke
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2024213

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: The data for the analyses
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: the study has finished
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: contact to the primary investigator
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ANALYTIC_CODE

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No