PROGRESS - PERINDOPRIL PROTECTION AGAINST RECURRENT STROKE STUDY - STATUS IN MARCH 1997

Main objective: The study has been designed to assess the efficacy of blood pressure (BP) reduction in the prevention of stroke in patients with a history of ischaemic stroke, haemorrhagic stroke, or transient ischaemic attack, Study design: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-co ntrolled, international, multicentre trial of the angiotensin-converti ng enzyme (ACE) inhibitor perindopril, alone or in combination with th e diuretic indapamide, in the secondary prevention of stroke and other major cardiovascular events, Methodology: A total of 6000 normotensiv e or hypertensive patients with a history of stroke or transient cereb ral ischaemia within the previous 5 years will be included in the stud y, The study is being conducted in over 160 centres located in seven r egions: Australia and New Zealand; The People's Republic of China; Fra nce and Belgium; Italy; Japan; Sweden; and the United Kingdom. The pri mary study outcome is the total number of strokes defined by WHO crite ria, Secondary outcomes include fatal and disabling strokes, total num ber of cardiovascular events and deaths, cognitive function, disabilit y, and dependency, A minimum of 4 years' followup is planned, Results: By 27 March 1997, 173 local clinical centres had been registered in s even regions, A total of 5268 patients (64% with a history of hyperten sion or baseline BPs above 95 mmHg [diastolic] or 160 mmHg [systolic]) had been randomly assigned to active treatment or placebo, After 6 mo nths' follow-up the difference in BP between treatment and control gro ups was 10.2/4.5 mm Hg (systolic/diastolic). Sixty-three strokes (two fatal) and 20 myocardial infarctions (four fatal) had been recorded. C onclusions: The viability of the study is now assured, with almost 90% of 6000 patients recruited. ACE therapy with perindopril is well tole rated in the studied population, The BP differences between control an d treatment groups and the event rates recorded to date suggest that t he study will achieve its primary objectives.