SPS3: Secondary Prevention of Small Subcortical Strokes
Secondary Prevention of Small Subcortical Strokes (SPS3) is a randomized, multicenter clinical trial (n = 3000) being conducted in seven countries, and sponsored by the US NINDS/NIH. Patients with symptomatic small subcortical strokes in the six-months before and an eligible lesion on magnetic resonance imaging are simultaneously randomized, in a 2 × 2 factorial design, to antiplatelet therapy–325 mg aspirin daily plus 75 mg clopidogrel daily, vs. 325 mg aspirin daily plus placebo, double-blind–and to one of two levels of systolic blood pressure targets–‘intensive’ (<130 mmHg) vs. ‘usual’ (130-149 mmHg). Participants are followed for an average of four-years. Time to recurrent stroke (ischemic or hemorrhagic) is the primary outcome and will be analyzed separately for each intervention.
BP lowering: Mean SBP decreased for both BP lowering groups from baseline to the last follow-up, from 142.4 to 126.7mm Hg for the lower SBP target group and from 143.6 to 137.4mm Hg for the higher SBP target group. At baseline, participants in both groups used an average of 1.7±1.2 antihypertensive medications, which increased to a mean of 2.4±1.4 (lower group) and 1.8±1.4 (higher group) by the end-study visit. It took an average of 6 months for patients to reach their SBP target, sustained to the last follow-up. Black participants had the highest proportion of SBP ≥150mm Hg at both study entry (40%) and end-study visit (17%), as compared with whites (9%) and Hispanics (11%).
Antiplatelet therapy: After a mean follow-up of 3.4 years, the risk of recurrent stroke was not significantly reduced with aspirin and clopidogrel (dual antiplatelet therapy) (125 strokes; rate, 2.5% per year) as compared with aspirin alone (138 strokes, 2.7% per year) (hazard ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.72 to 1.16), nor was the risk of recurrent ischemic stroke (hazard ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.63 to 1.09) or disabling or fatal stroke (hazard ratio, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.69 to 1.64).
- Julie Johnson, University of Florida, Principal Investigator
- Alan Shuldiner, University of Maryland
- Yan Gong, University of Florida
- Caitrin McDonough, University of Florida