Multiphase Study to Determine if Platelet Function Analysis Results Correlate With Ischemic Events and Bleeding Complications

Atherothrombotic disease is a leading killer of adults throughout the world. The current mainstay for the prevention of ischemic vascular events is the use of aspirin Antiplatelet agents are used routinely for the primary and secondary prevention of vascular events in patients with a prior history of stroke, TIA, or at high risk for the development of cerebrovascular disease. Numberous individual studies and meta-analyses have shown that essentially all of the oral antiplatelet agents have limited efficacy, with relative risk reductions in the range of 20-35%. The purpose of this study is to perform serial platelet function assays (PFAs) on patients with cerebrovascular disease who are taking antiplatelet agents and perform a pilot study to determine the feasibility of administering ASA as a dose adjusted medication using PFA. The long term goal of this study is to determine whether antiplatelet therapy will be more efficacious and/or safer if it is administered in a dose-adjusted manner.