Pilot Study of the Safety of Starting Administration of Low-Dose Aspirin and Cilostazol in Acute Ischemic Stroke

Progressive stroke is a serious problem due to the associated morbidity and mortality. Aspirin is recommended for acute ischemic stroke, but does not reduce the frequency of stroke progression. No standard treatment has been approved for the prevention of stroke progression. Cilostazol, which reduces platelet aggregation about 3 hours after single administration, does not increase the frequency of bleeding events when compared with aspirin or a placebo. Moreover, the combination of 100 mg aspirin and 200 mg cilostazol does not increase the frequency of bleeding events compared with only 100 mg aspirin, and thus is expected to prevent stroke progression with a high degree of safety. The present study investigated the safety of this combination of two drugs administered at the above concentrations in 54 patients with acute ischemic stroke within 48 hours of stroke onset. Modified National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) measurements were performed at baseline and again on day 4 to 7. Progressive stroke was defined as an increase greater than or equal to 1 point on NIHSS. Patient scores on the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) were evaluated at baseline and 3 months after enrollment. Stroke progression occurred in 11.1% of the patients. The percentages of patients with mRS score from 0 to 2 were 42.6% and 75% at baseline and 3 months, respectively. No symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage or major extracranial hemorrhage occurred. These results suggest that administration of aspirin and cilostazol is safe for acute ischemic stroke.