Rahman H, et al. - In this systematic review and meta-analysis, which included 15,434 patients with transient ischemic attack or ischemic stroke (IS), researchers determined the optimal period of effectiveness and safety of aspirin plus clopidogrel (A+C) vs aspirin monotherapy. According to results, A+C significantly decreased the risk of recurrent IS at short-term and intermediate-term durations. Similarly, short-term and intermediate-term A+C therapy significantly reduced the major adverse cardiovascular event. However, in terms of recurrent IS and major adverse cardiovascular events (composite of stroke, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular mortality), long-term A+C had no beneficial effect. In contrast to short-term A+C, intermediate and long-term A+C regimens significantly increased the risk of major bleeding. Long-term A+C was limited to excessive all-cause mortality. Overall, the investigators concluded that short-term A+C in patients with acute IS or transient ischemic attack is more effective and equally safe vs aspirin alone.