Effects of antiplatelet therapy after stroke due to intracerebral haemorrhage (RESTART): a randomised, open-label trial
Authors: Rustam Al-Shahi Salman, MS Dennis, PAG Sandercock, CLM Sudlow, JM Wardlaw, WN Whiteley, GD Murray, J Stephen, DE Newby, N Sprigg, DJ Werring, PM White, Colin Baigent, Daniel Lasserson, Frank Sullivan, Johanna Carrie, Javier Rojas, Shannon Amoils, John Bamford, Jane Armitage, Gabriel Rinkel, Gordon Lowe, Jonathan Emberson, Karen Innes, Lynn Dinsmore, Jonathan Drever, Carol Williams, David Perry, Connor McGill, David Buchanan, Allan Walker, Aidan Hutchison, Christopher Matthews, Ruth Fraser, Aileen McGrath, Ann Deary, Rosemary Anderson, Pauli Walker, Christian Hansen, Richard Parker, Aryelly Rodriguez, MR Macleod, Thomas Gattringer, Jeb Palmer, Eleni Sakka, Jennifer Adil-Smith, David Minks, Dipayan Mitra, Priya Bhatnagar, Johannes du Plessis, Yogish Joshi, Christine Lerpiniere, Richard O'Brien, Seona Burgess, Gillian Mead, Ruth Paulton, Fergus Doubal, Katrina McCormick, Neil Hunter, Pat Taylor, Ruwan Parakramawansha, Jack Perry, Gordon Blair, Allan MacRaild, Adrian Parry-Jones, Mary Johnes, Stephanie Lee, Kelly Marie Shaw, Ilse Burger, Martin Punter, Andrea Ingham, Jane Perez, Zin Naing, Jordi Morell, Tracy Marsden, Andrea Hall, Sally Marshall, Louise Harrison, Rowilson Jarapa, Edith Wood, Victoria O'Loughlin, David Cohen, Silvie Davies, Kelechi Njoku, Mushiya Mpelembue, Laura Burgess, Radim Licenik, Mmua Ngwako, Nabeela Nisar, Rangah Niranchanan, Tatjana Roganova, Rajaram Bathula, Joseph Devine, Anette David, Anne Oshodi, Fenglin Guo, Emmanuelle Owoyele, Varthi Sukdeo, Robert Ballantine, Mudhar Abbdul-saheb, Angela Chamberlain, Aberami Chandrakumar, Philip Poku, Kirsty Harkness, Catrin Blank, Emma Richards, Ali Ali, Faith Kibutu, Olesia Balitska, Kathryn Birchall, Pauline Bayliss, Clare Doyle, Kathy Stocks, Arshad Majis, Jo Howe, Christine Kamara, Luke Barron, Ahmad Maatouk, Ralf Lindert, Katy Dakin, Jessica Redgrave, Biju Bhaskaran, Isam Salih, Debs Kelly, Susan Szabo, Dawn Tomlin, Helen Bearne, Jean Buxton, Pauline Fitzell, Georgina Ayres, Afaq Saulat, Kathleen Horan, Joanne Garfield-Smith, Harbens Bhakri, Paul Guyler, Devesh Sinha, Thayalini Loganathan, Amber Siddiqui, Anwer Siddiqui, Lucy Coward, Swapna Kunhunny, Sharon Tysoe, Rajalakshmi Orath Prabakaran, Shyam Kelavkar, Sindhu Rashmi, David Ngo, Kheng Xiong Ng, Nisha Menon, Sweni Shah, Mark Barber, Derek Esson, Fiona Brodie, Talat Anjum, Mushtaq Wani, Manju Krishnan, Leanne Quinn, Jayne Spencer, Terry Jones, Helen Thompson-Jones, Lynne Dacey, Srikanth Chenna, Sharon Storton, Sarah Thomas, Teresa Beaty, Shelley Treadwell, Caroline Davies, Susan Tucker, Lynda Connor, Peter Slade, Glyn Gainard, Girish Muddegowda, Ranjan Sanyal, Alda Remegoso, Nenette Abano, Chelsea Causley, Racquel Carpio, Stephanie Stevens, Adrian Butler, Resti Varquez, Hayley Denic, Francis Alipio, Andrew Moores, Adrian Barry, Holly Maguire, Jeanette Grocott, Kay Finney, Sue Lyjko, Christine Roffe, Joanne Hiden, Phillip Ferdinand, Vera Cvoro, Khalil Ullah, Nicola Chapman, Mandy Couser, Susan Pound, Katrina McCormick, Sean Mcauley, Senthil Raghunathan, Faye Shelton, Amanda Hedstrom, Margi Godfrey, Diane Havard, Amanda Buck, Kailash Krishnan, Nicola Gilzeane, Jack Roffe, Judith Clarke, Katherine Whittamore, Saima Sheikh, Rekha Keshvara, Carla Jordan, Benjamin Jackson, Gwendoline Wilkes, Jason Appleton, Zhe Law, Oliver Matias, Evangelos Vasileiadis, Cathy Mason, Anthea Parry, Geraldine Landers, Melinda Holden, Basaam Aweid, Khalid Rashed, Linda Balian, Carinna Vickers, Elizabeth Keeling, Sarah Board, Joanna Allison, Clare Buckley, Barbara Williams-Yesson, Joanne Board, Tressy Pitt-Kerby, Alfonso Tanate, Diane Wood, Manohar Kini, Dinesh Chadha, Deborah Walstow, Rosanna Fong, Robert Luder, Tolu Adesina, Jill Gallagher, Hayley Bridger, Elodie Murali, Maneesh Bhargava, Chloe van Someren, Frances Harrington, Abhijit Mate, Ali James, Gillian Courtauld, Christine Schofield, Katja Adie, Linda Lucas, Kirsty Bond, Bev Maund, Sam Ellis, Paul Mudd, Martin James, Samantha Keenan, Angela Bowring, Julie Cageao, Hayley Kingwell, Caroline Roughan, Anthony Hemsley, Jane Sword, David Strain, Keniesha Miller, Anita Goff, Karin Gupwell, Kevin Thorpe, Hedley Emsley, Shuja Punekar, Alison McLoughlin, Sulaiman Sultan, Bindu Gregory, Sonia Raj, Donna Doyle, Keith Muir, Wilma Smith, Angela Welch, Fiona Moreton, Bharath Kumar Cheripelli, Salwa El Tawil, Dheeraj Kalladka, Xuya Huang, Nicola Day, Sankaranarayanan Ramachandran, Caroline Crosbie, Jennifer Elliot, Tony Rudd, Katherine Marks, Ajay Bhalla, Jonathan Birns, Sagal Kullane, Nic Weir, Christopher Allen, Vanessa Pressly, Pam Crawford, Emma Battersby-Wood, Alex Blades, Shuna Egerton, Ashleigh Walters, Sue Evans, James Richard Marigold, Fiona Smith, Gabriella Howard, Imogen Gartrell, Simon Smith, Robyn Creeden, Chloe Cox, Cherish Boxall, Jonathan Hewitt, Claire Nott, Procter Sarah, Jessica Whiteman, Steve Buckle, Rebecca Wallace, Rina Mardania, Jane Gray, Claire Triscott, Anand Nair, Jill Greig, Pratap Rana, Matthew Robinson, Mohammad Irfan Alam, Duncan Wilson, Caroline Watchurst, Maria Brezitski, Luci Crook, Ifan Jones, Azra Banaras, Krishna Patel, Renuka Erande, Caroline Hogan, Isabel Hostettler, Amy Ashton, Shez Feerick, Nina Francia, Nnebuife Oji, Emma Elliott, Talal Al-Mayhani, Christine Lerpiniere, Ruth Fraser, Dipankar Dutta, Pauline Brown, Deborah Ward, Fiona Davis, Jennifer Turfrey, Chloe Hughes, Kayleigh Collins, Rehana Bakawala, Susan O'Connell, Jon Glass, David Broughton, Dinesh Tryambake, Lynn Dixon, Kath Chapman, Andrew Young, Adrian Bergin, Andrew Sigsworth, Aravind Manoj, Glyn Fletcher, Paula Lopez, Penelope Cox, Mark Wilkinson, Paul Fitzsimmons, Nikhil Sharma, James Choulerton, Denise Button, Lindsey Dow, Lukuman Gbadamoshi, Joanne Avis, Barbara Madigan, Stephanie McCann, Louise Shaw, Deborah Howcroft, Suzanne Lucas, Andrew Stone, Gillian Cluckie, Caroline Lovelock, Brian Clarke, Neha Chopra, Natasha Clarke, Bhavini Patel, Kate Kennedy, Rebecca Williams, Adrian Blight, Joanna O'Reilly, Chukwuka Orefo, Nilofer Dayal, Rita Ghatala, Temi Adedoyin, Fran Watson, Sarah Trippier, Lillian Choy, Barry Moynihan, Usman Khan, Val Jones, Naomi Jeyaraj, Lourda Kerin, Kamy Thavanesan, Divya Tiwari, Chantel Cox, Anja Ljubez, Laura Tucker, Arshi Iqbal, Caroline Bagnall, Marketa Keltos, Josh Roberts, Becky Jupp, Catherine Ovington, Emily Rogers, Owen David, Jo Bell, Barbara Longland, Gail Hann, Martin Cooper, Mohammad Nasar, Anoja Rajapakse, Inez Wynter, Ijaz Anwar, Helen Skinner, Tarn Nozedar, Damian McArdle, Balakrishna Kumar, Susan Crawford, Arunkumar Annamalai, Alex Ramshaw, Clare Holmes, Sarah Caine, Mairead Osborn, Emily Dodd, Peter Murphy, Nicola Devitt, Pauline Baker, Amy Steele, Lucy Belle Guthrie, Samantha Clarke, Ahamad Hassan, Dean Waugh, Emelda Veraque, Linetty Makawa, Mary Kambafwile, Marc Randall, Vasileios Papavasileiou, Claire Cullen, Jenny Peters, Hlaing Thant, Tanya Ingram, Mellor Zoe, Ramesh Durairaj, Melanie Harrison, Sarah Stevenson, Daniela Shackcloth, Jordan Ewing, Victoria Sutton, Mark McCarron, Jacqueline McKee, Mandy Doherty, Ferghal McVerry, Caroline Blair, Mary MacLeod, Janice Irvine, Heather Gow, Jacqueline Furnace, Anu Joyson, Baljit Jagpal, Sarah Ross, Katrina Klaasen, Sandra Nelson, Rebecca Clarke, Nichola Crouch, Beverly MacLennan, Vicky Taylor, Daniel Epstein, Ifan Jones, Avani Shukla, Vinodh Krishnamurthy, Paul Nicholas, Sammie Qureshi, Adam Webber, Justin Penge, Hawraman Ramadan, Stuart Maguire, Chris Patterson, Ruth Bellfield, Brigid Hairsine, Kelvin Stewart, Michaela Hooley, Outi Quinn, Bella Richard, Sally Moseley, Claire Nott, Steve Buckle, Procter Sarah, Jessica Whiteman, Mandy Edwards, Heidi Lawson, Rebecca Wallace, Claire Triscott, Michelle Tayler, Yogish Pai, Mahesh Dhakal, Bernard Esisi, Sofia Dima, Gemma Marie Smith, Mark Garside, Muhammad Naeem, Vidya Baliga, Gill Rogers, Ellen Brown, David Bruce, Rachel Hayman, Susan Clayton, Ed Gamble, Rebecca Grue, Bethan Charles, Adam Hague, Sujata Blane, Caroline Lambert, Afnan Chaudhry, Thomas Harrison, Kari Saastamoinen, Dionne Hove, Laura Howaniec, Gemma Grimwood, Ozlem Redjep, Fiona Humphries, Lucia Argandona, Larissa Cuenoud, Esther Erumere, Sageet Amlani, Grace Auld, Afraim Salek-Haddadi, Ursula Schulz, James Kennedy, Gary Ford, Philip Mathieson, Ian Reckless, Rachel Teal, Giulia Lenti, George Harston, Eoin O'Brien, Joanne Mcgee, Jennifer Mitchell, Elaine Amis, Dominic Handley, Siobhan Kelly, George Zachariah, Jobbin Francis, Sarah Crisp, Juliana Sesay, Sarah Finlay, Helen Hayhoe, Niamh Hannon, Tom Hughes, Bethan Morse, Henry De Berker, Emma Tallantyre, Ahmed Osman, Susan White, Stefan Schwarz, Benjamin Jelley, Rajendra Yadava, Khalid Azhar, Julie Reddan, Mirriam Sangombe, Samantha Stafford, Ken Fotherby, Debbie Morgan, Farrukh Baig, Karla Jennings-Preece, Donna Butler, Nasar Ahmad, Angela Willberry, Angela Stevens, Baljinder Rai, Prasad Siddegowda, Peter Howard, Afaq Saulat, Lisa Hyatt, Tracey Dobson, David Jarrett, Suheil Ponnambath, Jane Tandy, Yasmin Harrington-Davies, Rebecca Butler, Claire James, Stacey Valentine, Anne Suttling, Peter Langhorne, Gillian Kerr, Fiona Wright, Ruth Graham, Christine McAlpine, Mohammad Shahzad Iqbal, Louise Humphreys, Kath Pasco, Olga Balazikova, Ashraf Nasim, Cassilda Peixoto, Louise Gallagher, Shahrzad Shahmehri, Sandip Ghosh, Elizabeth Barrie, Danielle Gilmour, Margo Henry, Tom Webb, Linda Cowie, Hannah Rudenko, Shanni McDonald, Natasha Schumacher, Susannah Walker, Tracey Cosier, Anna Verrion, Eva Beranova, Audrey Thomson, Marius Venter, Arindam Kar, Sheila Mashate, Kirsten Harvey, Léjeune Gardener, Vinh Nguyen, Omid Halse, Olivia Geraghty, Beth Hazel, Peter Wilding, Victoria Tilley, Bernard Esisi, Tim Cassidy, Beverley McClelland, Maria Bokhari, Timothy England, Amanda Hedstrom, Mohana Maddula, Richard Donnelly, Paul Findlay, Ashish Macaden, Ian Shread, Charlotte Barr, Azlisham Mohd Nor, Claire Brown, Nicola Persad, Charlotte Eglinton, Marie Weinling, Benjamin Hyams, Alex Shah, John Baker, Anthony Byrne, Caroline McGhee, Amanda Smart, Claire Copeland, Michael Carpenter, Marion Walker, Richard Davey, Ann Needle, Razik Fathima, Gavin Bateman, Prabal Datta, Andrew Stanners, Linda Jackson, Julie Ball, Michelle Davis, Natalie Atkinson, Michelle Fawcett, Teresa Thompson, Helen Guy, Valerie Hogg, Carole Hays, Stephen Woodward, Mohammad Haque, Eluzai Hakim, Stuart Symonds, Mehran Maanoosi, Jane Herman, Toby Black, Skelton Miriam, Caroline Clarke, Alpha Anthony, Michele Tribbeck, Julie Cronin, Denise Mead, Ruth Fennelly, James McIlmoyle, Christina Dickinson, Carol Jeffs, Sajjad Anwar, Joanne Howard, Kirsty Jones, Saikat Dhar, Caroline Clay, Muhammad Siddiq, Simone Ivatts, Yolanda Baird, Moore Sally, Isobel Amey, Sophie Newton, Lisa Clayton-Evans, Indra Chadbourn, Rayessa Rayessa, Charde Naylor, Alicia Rodgers, Lisa Wilson, Sarah Wilson, Emma Clarkson, Ruth Davies, Paula Owings, Graeme Sangster, Valerie Gott, Victoria Little, Pauline Weir, Suja Cherian, Deepa Jose, Helen Moroney, Susan Downham, Angela Dodd, Venetia Vettimootal Johnson, Laura Codd, Naomi Robinson, Ashraf Ahmed, Mo Albazzaz, Sharon Johnson, Carol Denniss, Mishell Cunningham, Tajammal Zahoor, Timothy Webster, Sandra Leason, Syed Haider, Kausic Chatterjee, Arumugam Nallasivan, Charlotte Perkins, Samantha Seagrave, Colin Jenkins, Fiona Price, Claire Hughes, Lily Mercer, Malik Hussain, Sarah Brown, Miriam Harvey, Jane Homan, Mohammad Khan, Robert Whiting, Leanne Foote, Nicholas Hunt, Helen Durman, Lucy Brotherton, Jayne Foot, Corinne Pawley, Eliza Foster, Alison Whitcher, Kneale Metcalf, Jenny Jagger, Susan McDonald, Kelly Waterfield, Patrick Sutton, Naval Shinh, Ajmal Anversha, Garth Ravenhill, Richard Greenwood, Janak Saada, Alison Wiltshire, Rebekah Perfitt, Sreeman Andole, Naveen Gadapa, Karen Dunne, Magdalini Krommyda, Evelyne Burssens, Sam King, Catherine Plewa, Nigel Smyth, Jenny Wilson, Elio Giallombardo, Charlotte Eglinton, Lucy Sykes, Pradeep Kumar, James Barker, Isabel Huggett, Linda Dunn, Charlotte Culmsee, Philip Thomas, Min Myint, Richard O'Brien, Helen Brew, Nikhil Majmudar, Janice O'Connell, George Bunea, Charlotte Fox, Diane Gulliver, Andrew Smith, Betty Mokoena, Naweed Sattar, Ramesh Krishnamurthy, Emily Osborne, David Wilson, Belinda Wroath, Kevin Dynan, Michael Power, Susan Thompson, Victoria Adell, Enoch Orugun, Una Poultney, Rachel Glover, Hannah Crowther, Sarah Thornthwaite, Ivan Wiggam, Aine Wallace, Enda Kerr, Ailsa Fulton, Annemarie Hunter, Suzanne Tauro, Sarah Cuddy, David Mangion, Anne Hardwick, Skarlet Markova, Tara Lawrence, Carmen Constantin, Jo Fletcher, Isobel Thomas, Kerry Pettitt, Lakshmanan Sekaran, Margaret Tate, Kiranjit Bharaj, Rohan Simon, Frances Justin, Sakthivel Sethuraman, Duke Phiri, Niaz Mohammed, Meena Chauhan, Khaled Elfandi, Uzma Khan, Samantha Stafford, Julie Reddan, David Eveson, Amit Mistri, Lisa Manning, Shagufta Khan, Champa Patel, Mohammed Moqsith, Saira Sattar, Man Yee Lam, Kashif Musarrat, Claire Stephens, Latheef Kalathil, Richard Miller, Maqsud Salehin, Nikki Gautam, Duncan Bailey, Kelly Amor, Julie Meir, Anne Nicolson, Javed Imam, Lisa Wood, Julie White, Mahmud Sajid, George Ghaly, Margaret Ball, Rachel Gascoyne, Harald Proeschel, Simon Sharpe, Sarah Horton, Emily Beaves, Stephanie Jones, Brigitte Yip, Murdina Bell, Linda MacLiver, Brian MacInnes, Derek Esson, Don Sims, Jennifer Hurley, Mark Willmot, Claire Sutton, Edward Littleton, Susan Maiden, Rachael Jones, James Cunningham, Carole Green, Michelle Bates, Raj Shekhar, Kelly Waterfield, Ellie Gilham, Iman Ahmed, Rachel Crown, Tracy Fuller, Neetish Goorah, Angela Bell, Christine Kelly, Arun Singh, Jamie Walford, Benjamin Tomlinson, Farzana Patel, Stephen Duberley, Ingrid Kane, Chakravarthi Rajkumar, Jane Gaylard, Joanna Breeds, Nicola Gainsborough, Alexandra Pitt-Ford, Emma Barbon, Laura Latter, Philip Thompson, Simon Hervey, Shrivakumar Krishnamoorthy, Joseph Vassallo, Deborah Walter, Helen Cochrane, Meena Srinivasan, Robert Campbell, Denise Donaldson, Nichola Motherwell, Frances Hurford, Indranil Mukherjee, Antony Kenton, Sheila Nyabadza, Irene Martin, Benjamin Hunt, Hardi Hassan, Sarah O'Toole, Bander Dallol, Janet Putterill, Ratneshwari Jha, Rachel Gallifent, Puneet Kakar, Aparna Pusalkar, Kelly Chan, Puneet Dangri, Hannah Beadle, Angela Cook, Karen Crabtree, Santhosh Subramonian, Peter Owusu-Agyei, Natalie Temple, Nicola Butterworth-Cowin, Suzanne Ragab, Kerstin Knops, Emma Jinks, Christine Dickson, Laura Gleave, Judith Dube, Jacqui Leggett, Tatiana Garcia, Sissy Ispoglou, Rachel Evans, Sandeep Ankolekar, Anne Hayes, Hlaing Ni, Bithi Rahman, Josette Milligan, Carol Graham, Josin Jose, Breffni Keegan, Mandy Doherty, Jim Kelly, Caroline Blair, Richard Dewar, James White, Kelly Thomas
Journal: The Lancet (2019)

BackgroundAntiplatelet therapy reduces the risk of major vascular events for people with occlusive vascular disease, although it might increase the risk of intracranial haemorrhage. Patients surviving the commonest subtype of intracranial haemorrhage, intracerebral haemorrhage, are at risk of both haemorrhagic and occlusive vascular events, but whether antiplatelet therapy can be used safely is unclear. We aimed to estimate the relative and absolute effects of antiplatelet therapy on recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage and whether this risk might exceed any reduction of occlusive vascular events.MethodsThe REstart or STop Antithrombotics Randomised Trial (RESTART) was a prospective, randomised, open-label, blinded endpoint, parallel-group trial at 122 hospitals in the UK. We recruited adults (≥18 years) who were taking antithrombotic (antiplatelet or anticoagulant) therapy for the prevention of occlusive vascular disease when they developed intracerebral haemorrhage, discontinued antithrombotic therapy, and survived for 24 h. Computerised randomisation incorporating minimisation allocated participants (1:1) to start or avoid antiplatelet therapy. We followed participants for the primary outcome (recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage) for up to 5 years. We analysed data from all randomised participants using Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusted for minimisation covariates. This trial is registered with ISRCTN (number ISRCTN71907627).FindingsBetween May 22, 2013, and May 31, 2018, 537 participants were recruited a median of 76 days (IQR 29–146) after intracerebral haemorrhage onset: 268 were assigned to start and 269 (one withdrew) to avoid antiplatelet therapy. Participants were followed for a median of 2·0 years (IQR [1·0– 3·0]; completeness 99·3%). 12 (4%) of 268 participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy had recurrence of intracerebral haemorrhage compared with 23 (9%) of 268 participants allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (adjusted hazard ratio 0·51 [95% CI 0·25–1·03]; p=0·060). 18 (7%) participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy experienced major haemorrhagic events compared with 25 (9%) participants allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (0·71 [0·39–1·30]; p=0·27), and 39 [15%] participants allocated to antiplatelet therapy had major occlusive vascular events compared with 38 [14%] allocated to avoid antiplatelet therapy (1·02 [0·65–1·60]; p=0·92).InterpretationThese results exclude all but a very modest increase in the risk of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage with antiplatelet therapy for patients on antithrombotic therapy for the prevention of occlusive vascular disease when they developed intracerebral haemorrhage. The risk of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage is probably too small to exceed the established benefits of antiplatelet therapy for secondary prevention.FundingBritish Heart Foundation.