A clinical study of alprostadil vs salvia miltiorrhiza in treatment of 115 patients with cerebral infarction

Objective To compare the therapeutic effects of alprostadil and salvia miltiorrhiza injection in treating cerebral infarction. Methods Patients with cerebral infarction (n = 115)were allocated into two groups: alprostadil group(61 patients) and miltiorrhiza group (54 patients). Observation on clinical neurofunctional disorder and severity was carried out. Results According to the Chinese Stroke Scale and the Barthel Score, we found that there were definite effectiveness and statistical significances in the patients of the two groups after the 7th, 14th, 21st, 90th days of treatment comparing to those prior to the treatment. There were also significant differences between the above two groups regarding the efficacies of alprostadil and salvia miltiorrhiza at the 21st and 90th days (P 0. 05), of which the improvement of Chinese Stroke Scale and the Barthel Score came earlier and being more effective in the alprostadil group since the 2nd day. Concomitantly, inhibition of platelet aggregation of the alprostadil group also improved more significantly (P 0. 01). Adverse reactions were modest in all patients. Conclusion Alprostadil is safe and being more effective in treatment of cerebral infarction.