Recruitment difficulties

RESTART- fr is a randomised controlled trial for adults surviving spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage who had taken an antithrombotic drug (i.e. anticoagulant or antiplatelet medication) for the prevention of vaso-occlusive disease before the ICH.

RESTART- fr is testing whether a policy of starting antiplatelet drugs (one or more of aspirin, clopidogrel, or dipyridamole, chosen at investigator's discretion) results in a beneficial net reduction of all serious vascular events over two years compared with a policy of avoiding antiplatelet drugs.

More than one third of the adults with a stroke due to bleeding into the brain - known as brain haemorrhage - are taking drugs to prevent clotting when they have a brain haemorrhage.

These patients had previously suffered illnesses like angina, heart attack, or stroke due to blood vessel blockage, which is why they are treated with drugs to prevent further clots occurring. These drugs are usually stopped when the brain haemorrhage occurs.

But when patients recover from brain haemorrhage, they and their doctors are often uncertain about whether to restart these drugs to prevent further clots occurring, or whether to avoid them in case they increase the risk of brain haemorrhage happening again.

In this preliminary study of 292 such people who survive a brain haemorrhage, we will study the potentially beneficial effects of three antiplatelet drugs (one or more of aspirin, clopidogrel, or dipyridamole, chosen by the patient's physician) on the risks of heart attack, stroke and other clotting problems as well as their effect on the risk of a brain haemorrhage happening again.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient age ≥18 years.
• Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage confirmed by imaging
• Patient had been taken antithrombotic drug(s) for the prevention of vaso-occlusive disease for at least 1 week before ICH onset
• Randomisation more than 24 hours after ICH onset.
• Patient and their doctor are uncertain about whether to start or avoid antiplatelet drugs.
• Brain imaging that first diagnosed the ICH is available. Participant or representative consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• intracerebral hemorrhage associated with : a vascular malformation (AVM, arterial aneurysm, cavernoma); a secondary hemorrhagic infarction; a cerebral venous thrombosis; a tumor
• Patients with a formal indication of restarting oral anticoagulants despite the ICH (eg mechanical heart valves or pulmonary embolism under 6 months)

we plan to make IPD analysis with sister trial: RESTART UK