Antiplatelet therapy is the most frequently recommended treatment to prevent recurrent ischaemic events in patients who have had an ischaemic stroke, an acute coronary syndrome, or symptomatic peripheral arterial disease. The most frequently used drugs are aspirin or clopidogrel. Most guidelines recommend lifelong intake of antiplatelet therapy.
However, randomised trials that have investigated the benefit of antiplatelet therapy had an observation period of between 2 years and 4 years.1Therefore, we lack data on the long-term benefit and risk of antiplatelet therapy across long time periods, particularly in elderly patients. In The Lancet, the research author and colleagues, report bleeding events and outcomes in 3166 patients with a first transient ischaemic attack, ischaemic stroke, or myocardial infarction who were treated with antiplatelet drugs (mainly aspirin) and were followed…
