Safety evaluation of substituting clopidogrel for ticlopidine in Japanese patients with ischemic stroke--Hiroshima ticlopidine, clopidogrel safe exchange trial.

BACKGROUND: Clopidogrel is sometimes substituted for ticlopidine when cerebrovascular or cardiovascular patients develop hematologic abnormalities after ticlopidine treatment. However, the adverse event rate after the substitution to clopidogrel remains undetermined. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to define the risk of adverse events after substituting clopidogrel for ticlopidine without a washout period. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled patients older than 20 years who had a history of noncardioembolic strokes, including transient ischemic attacks, were treated with ticlopidine for at least 6 months. This study was conducted from August 26, 2008, when the first patient was enrolled, to January 16, 2012, the date of the last patient examination, at 8 active stroke centers in Hiroshima, Japan. We excluded patients who had severe disabilities, evidence of cardioembolic stroke, or history of a bleeding event. Each patient received clopidogrel (either 50 mg or 75 mg) once a day in place of ticlopidine without a washout period. Follow-up exams were scheduled within 12 months after the medication substitution. The primary end point of this study was adverse events of interest, including clinically significant reduced blood cell counts, hepatic dysfunction, bleeding, and other serious side effects. RESULTS: In this study, 110 patients were enrolled and analyzed in an intent-to-treat manner (modified intent to treat). Within the scheduled follow-up periods, 9 primary end point events were observed in separate patients. The primary end point events were observed at a rate of 8.4% per year (Kaplan-Meier method). At the time of enrolment, 16 patients met the exclusion criteria, of which 8 recovered from their abnormal hematologic results to the institutional normal limit after the substitution of ticlopidine for clopidogrel (57.4% per year). CONCLUSIONS: The adverse event rates after the substitution of ticlopidine for clopidogrel is similar to the adverse event rates of patients who were initially treated with clopidogrel. The substitution of clopidogrel for ticlopidine should be considered for patients who develop hematologic abnormalities from ticlopidine treatment.

[Recurrent embolic strokes associated with persistent left superior vena cava draining into the left atrium].

We report a 36-year-old man who admitted due to brain infarctions of the pons and cerebellum. He had a history of brain infarction 4 years ago. Chest radiograph and enhanced CT showed an abnormal shadow in the superior mediastinum. Chest enhanced CT showed dilated right and persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC), and venous thrombus was detected in the thorax. The PLSVC connected directly to the left atrium. Abdominal CT showed surface irregularity of the bilateral kidney, suggesting that renal infarctions had occurred. There was no risk factor of systemic embolism except for PLSVC thrombosis. We thought that retention of blood flow caused the formation of thrombus in the PLSVC, and the thrombus flowed into directly the systemic circulation through the left atrium and caused multiple embolisms.

Convenient diagnosis of spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy using a microchip electrophoresis system.

Spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) is a slowly progressive motor neuron disease. Lower and primary sensory neuronopathy is one of the major neuropathological changes that occurs in SBMA. However, many sings are common to SBMA and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and SBMA patients are sometimes diagnosed with ALS. Leuprorelin may be used to treat SBMA, but an accurate diagnosis is necessary for treatment and care. Genetic diagnosis can be performed to detect the expansion of a CAG repeat in the androgen receptor gene in SBMA patients. To screen for this expansion, we used a microchip electrophoresis system. The discrepancy between the actual repeat length and that found by the microchip electrophoresis system was roughly dependent on the repeat length. The mean difference was -6.8 base pairs (bp) in SBMA patients, -0.30 bp in controls. The microchip electrophoresis results were approximately 2 CAG repeats shorter than the actual repeat length in SBMA patients. Using this method, we screened our ALS samples (31 were familial, 271 were sporadic): 4 subjects were diagnosed with SBMA; 2 had familial ALS, and 2 had sporadic ALS (0.7%). The microchip electrophoresis system is semi-quantitative, convenient and useful for screening a large number of samples.