Ultra-Early Combination Antiplatelet Therapy with Cilostazol for the Prevention of Branch Atheromatous Disease: A Multicenter Prospective Study

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The optimal use of antiplatelet therapy for intracranial branch atheromatous disease (BAD) is not known. METHODS: We conducted a prospective multicenter, single-group trial of 144 consecutive patients diagnosed with probable BAD. All patients were treated within 12 h of symptom onset to prevent clinical progression using dual antiplatelet therapy with cilostazol plus one oral antiplatelet drug (aspirin or clopidogrel). Endpoints of progressive BAD in the dual therapy group at 2 weeks were compared with a matched historical control group of 142 patients treated with single oral antiplatelet therapy using either cilostazol, aspirin, or clopidogrel. RESULTS: Progressive motor paresis occurred in 14 patients (9.7%) in the aggressive antiplatelet group, compared with 48 (33.8%) in the matched single antiplatelet group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed the following variables to be associated with a better prognosis for BAD: baseline modified Rankin Scale score, dual oral antiplatelet therapy with cilostazol, and dyslipidemia (odds ratios of 0.616, 0.445, and 0.297, respectively). Hypertension was associated with a worse prognosis for BAD (odds ratio of 1.955). CONCLUSIONS: Our trial showed that clinical progression of BAD was significantly reduced with the administration of ultra-early aggressive combination therapy using cilostazol compared to treatment with antiplatelet monotherapy.