Reductions in the risks of recurrent stroke in patients with and without diabetes: The PROGRESS Trial

• Published in: Blood pressure Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 7 - 13
• Main Authors: Berthet, Karine, Neal, Bruce C., Chalmers, John P., Macmahon, Stephen W., Bousser, Marie-Germaine, Colman, Sam A., Woodward, Mark
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Informa UK Ltd 2004; Taylor & Francis
• Subjects: Aged; Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Antihypertensive Agents - therapeutic use; blood pressure lowering; cerebrovascular disease and diabetes; cognitive function; Comorbidity; Diabetes Complications; Diuretics - therapeutic use; Double-Blind Method; Drug Therapy, Combination; Female; Humans; Hypertension - complications; Hypertension - drug therapy; indapamide; Indapamide - therapeutic use; Ischemic Attack, Transient - etiology; Ischemic Attack, Transient - prevention & control; Male; Middle Aged; perindopril; Perindopril - therapeutic use; Proportional Hazards Models; Recurrence; Risk; Risk Factors; stroke; Stroke - epidemiology; Stroke - etiology; Stroke - prevention & control; Treatment Outcome
• ISSN: 0803-7051; 1651-1999
• DOI: 10.1080/08037050410029605

Background: Analyses of the risks of stroke were conducted for subjects with and without diabetes, participating in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of a perindopril-based blood pressure lowering regimen in 6105 people with prior stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA), followed for a median of 3.9 years. Findings: Seven hundred and sixty-one patients had diabetes at baseline. Diabetes increased the risk of recurrent stroke by 35% (95% CI 10-65%) principally through an effect on ischaemic stroke (1.53, 95% CI 1.23-1.90). Active treatment reduced blood pressure by 9.5 4.6 mmHg in patients with diabetes and by 8.9 3.9 mmHg in patients without diabetes. The proportional risk reductions achieved for stroke in patients with diabetes, 38% (95% CI 8-58%), and patients without diabetes, 28% (95% CI 16-39%), were not significantly different (p homogeneity = 0.5). The absolute reduction in the risk of recurrent stroke in the patients with diabetes was equivalent to one stroke avoided among every 16 (95% CI 9-111) patients treated for 5 years. Conclusions: Diabetes is an important risk factor for stroke in patients with established cerebrovascular disease. Treatment with the ACE inhibitor perindopril with discretionary use of the diuretic indapamide produced reductions in the risk of recurrent stroke in patients with diabetes that were at least as great as those achieved in patients without diabetes.