Thromboprophylaxis and early antithrombotic therapy in patients with acute ischemic stroke and cerebral venous and sinus thrombosis.

So far, neither treatment with standard unfractionated heparin (UFH) nor with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) has been shown to reduce mortality or to improve neurological outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Although a reduction of early recurrent stroke has been demonstrated for the use of subcutaneous UFH, this benefit was offset by a similar-sized increase in hemorrhagic stroke. Double-blinded studies of LMWH have demonstrated no difference between active treatment and placebo suggesting that LMWH is not effective for the early secondary prevention of ischemic stroke. Although UFH and LMWH may be beneficial in certain subgroups of stroke who are at high risk for early stroke recurrence, these subgroups are still to be defined. Currently, low-dose UFH and LMWH can only be recommended for prophylaxis of deep vein thrombosis in patients with acute ischemic stroke with impaired mobility or other factors determining a particular high risk of venous thromboembolism. Available treatment data from controlled trials favor the use of anticoagulation as the first-line therapy for patients with cerebral venous and sinus thrombosis because it may reduce the risk of a fatal outcome and severe disability and does not promote intracranial hemorrhage.