Antithrombotic management after an ischemic stroke in French primary care practice: results from three pooled cross-sectional studies.

Background And Purpose: We aimed at quantifying and explaining the underuse of antithrombotic treatments after an ischemic stroke in patients seen in French primary care.

Methods: We pooled all ischemic stroke patients included in 3 observational primary care-based observational studies. French general practitioners and cardiologists recruited 14,544 patients with atherothrombotic disease including 4,322 with an ischemic stroke.

Comparison of cardiovascular risk factors and drug use in 14,544 French patients with a history of myocardial infarction, ischaemic stroke and/or peripheral arterial disease.

Background: Atherothrombosis is a systemic disease affecting coronary, cerebral, and lower limb arteries, and requiring secondary prevention measures.

Design: Data from three observational studies carried out in 1999-2000 (ECLAT1, APRES, PRISMA) were pooled to describe the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and the patterns of drug use in atherothrombotic patients.

Methods: General practitioners and cardiologists engaged in a private practice and evenly distributed in France recruited consecutive patients who had a history of at least one atherothrombotic event: myocardial infarction (MI), ischaemic stroke, and/or peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

Comparison of hypertension management after stroke and myocardial infarction: results from ECLAT1--a French nationwide study.

Background And Purpose: Hypertension control is a cornerstone of preventive treatment in patients at risk for cerebral attack. The aim of this study was to analyze hypertension management in secondary prevention of stroke as compared with patients in secondary prevention of myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods: The ECLAT1 study was a cross-sectional study conducted in all French regions in a random sample of 3009 practitioners.