The Prescribing Patterns of Antithrombotic Agents for Prevention of Recurrent Ischemic Stroke

Objectives: Antithrombotic agents are effective in the secondary prevention of ischemic strokes. In the pre-sent study, we sought to determine the antithrombotic prescribing patterns of neurologists in patients with first-ever ischemic stroke and also to identify the factors influencing the choice of a specific agent and what changes are made when a recurrent stroke occurs in these patients. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of neurology patients who were diagnosed with first-ever ischemic stroke and were antithrombotic naïve from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2000. Patients ’ antithrombotic agents at discharge and during the follow-up period were reviewed to identify factors affecting the choice of antithrombotic agents. Results: A total of 376 patients experienced non-fatal first-ever ischemic stroke. Of these, 351 were pre-scribed antithrombotic agents at discharge, while the remaining 25 were not on antithrombotic treat-ment. Low-dose aspirin was the most commonly prescribed agent (65%). The most important determi-nant for the choice of other antiplatelet agents was aspirin intolerance. Not surprisingly, only 36 % of the patients with atrial fibrillation were treated with oral anticoagulants at the time of hospital dis-charge. Conclusion: Aspirin remains the most commonly used antithrombotic agent for the prevention of recurren