Active Heart, Stroke & Blood Cancer

Antiplatelet Secondary Prevention International Randomised trial after INtracerebral haemorrhaGe (ASPIRING): a pragmatic, randomised, parallel group, open, superiority, phase 3 GCRFF multinational clinical trial. Application for international coordination and UK national contributions.

In plain English

AI plain-English summary

Every year, thousands of people who survive a bleeding stroke face a difficult medical choice: take daily antiplatelet drugs to prevent a future heart attack or clot-driven stroke, or avoid them out of fear that the drugs could trigger another brain bleed. Doctors lack definitive evidence to guide them. The problem is that survivors of intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) are at a 7–19% annual risk of a major cardiovascular event, yet the very drugs that prevent clots might also increase bleeding risk. A previous UK trial suggested antiplatelet therapy appears safe and may reduce these events, but the results were not conclusive enough to change global practice. This new trial, ASPIRING, will recruit at least 4,148 participants across 178 hospitals worldwide, randomly assigning them to start or avoid antiplatelet monotherapy. If the trial shows that antiplatelet drugs safely reduce the combined risk of heart attacks, strokes, and vascular death, it would directly change clinical guidelines and the daily medication decisions made by millions of ICH survivors and their doctors. If the drugs prove harmful, it would spare patients an unnecessary risk. Either way, the trial will provide the definitive evidence currently missing from stroke care.

View original technical description
Stroke due to non-traumatic intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) accounts for 54% of years of life lost due to stroke worldwide and survivors are at 7-19% annual risk of further major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). In the Primary Applicant's recent BHF-funded REstart or STop Antithrombotics Randomised Trial (RESTART) for people with symptomatic occlusive vascular disease who survived ICH in the UK, starting antiplatelet therapy appeared safe and may have reduced the risk of MACE. Now, we seek to determine these effects in all ICH survivors and investigate their generalisability worldwide in the Antiplatelet Secondary Prevention International Randomised trial after INtracerebral haemorrhaGe (ASPIRING). ASPIRING will recruit ≥4,148 participants aged ≥18 years who survive ≥24 hours after symptomatic ICH and have not started antiplatelet or anticoagulant drug therapy after ICH at 178 hospitals worldwide. Central computerised randomisation will allocate participants (1:1) to start or to avoid antiplatelet monotherapy. All randomised participants will be followed for the primary composite outcome of all ischaemic and haemorrhagic MACE (non-fatal stroke, non-fatal myocardial infarction, or vascular death). ASPIRING will provide definitive evidence about the effects of antiplatelet monotherapy on MACE in all ICH survivors, explore generalisability and estimate effects in important sub-groups. ASPIRING will influence clinical guidelines worldwide.

View the original record at the funder ↗

Researchers

Rustam Al-Shahi (EPMC Awardee)

Related Research

Grants with similar aims, by meaning.

Start or STop Anticoagulants Randomised Trial (SoSTART) for atrial fibrillation after intracranial haemorrhage: safety phase
PREvention of STroke in Intracerebral haemorrhaGE survivors with Atrial Fibrillation
Globalising the BHF REstart or STop Antithrombotics Randomised Trial (RESTART)
Safety and efficacy of Triple Antiplatelets for Reducing Dependency after Ischaemic Stroke: the TARDIS randomised controlled trial
PREvention of STroke in intracerebral haemorrhaGE survivors with Atrial Fibrillation (PRESTIGE-AF)

Original classification

None

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