Aspirin plus Clopidogrel as Secondary Prevention after Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Antiplatelet agents are the mainstay for secondary prevention of non-cardioembolic stroke. This systematic review examined the safety and efficacy of short-, middle-, and long-term aspirin in combination with clopidogrel as secondary prevention of stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) of presumed arterial origin.

PubMed, EmBase, and CENTRAL were searched up to May 2014. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared aspirin plus clopidogrel versus aspirin or clopidogrel as secondary prevention of stroke or TIA of arterial origin were included. The analyses were stratified into short-term (≤3 months), middle-term (>3 months and