SynthesisNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2017
Safety and efficacy of Cerebrolysin in motor function recovery after stroke: a meta-analysis of the CARS trials.
Synthesis in Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06489925 (Cerebrolysin as an Add-On Therapy to Standard Treatment of Posterior Circulation Stroke Secondary to Basilar Artery Occlusion), which is not on this map. Cited by 27 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Cerebrolysin as an Add-On Therapy to Standard Treatment of Posterior Circulation Stroke Secondary to Basilar Artery Occlusion
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cerebrolysin for acute ischaemic stroke.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Safety and efficacy of Cerebrolysin in early post-stroke recovery: a meta-analysis of nine randomized clinical trials.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2018Pooled it
- Trial
- Cerebrolysin as an Early Add-on to Reperfusion Therapy: Risk of Hemorrhagic Transformation after Ischemic Stroke (CEREHETIS), a prospective, randomized, multicenter pilot study.BMC neurology · 2023Trial
- Randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, pilot trial to investigate safety and efficacy of Cerebrolysin in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.BMC neurology · 2020Trial
- Very Early Short-Course Cerebrolysin After Tenecteplase and Mechanical Thrombectomy: A Case Report.Case reports in neurological medicine · 2026Article
- C-REGS2-A multinational, high-quality comparative effectiveness study of Cerebrolysin in moderate acute ischemic stroke.International journal of stroke : official journal of the International Stroke Society · 2025Article
- Review
- Cerebrolysin, hemorrhagic transformation, and anticoagulation timing after reperfusion therapy in stroke:Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Review
- Cerebrolysin Concentrate: Therapeutic Potential for Severe Oral Apraxia After Stroke: A Case Report.Brain & NeuroRehabilitation · 2024Article
- Article
- Comparing the biological activity and composition of Cerebrolysin with other peptide preparations.Journal of medicine and life · 2024Article
- Heterogeneous treatment effects of Cerebrolysin as an early add-on to reperfusion therapy:Frontiers in pharmacology · 2023Article
- Cerebrolysin and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in patients with traumatic brain injury: a three-arm randomized trial.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
- Reversing the Ruin: Rehabilitation, Recovery, and Restoration After Stroke.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2022Review
- Role and Impact of Cerebrolysin for Ischemic Stroke Care.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Review
- Efficacy of Cerebrolysin Treatment as an Add-On Therapy to Mechanical Thrombectomy in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke Due to Large Vessel Occlusion: Study Protocol for a Prospective, Open Label, Single-Center Study With 12 Months of Follow-Up.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- Safety of Cerebrolysin for Neurorecovery after Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Twelve Randomized-Controlled Trials.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- European Stroke Organisation and European Academy of Neurology joint guidelines on post-stroke cognitive impairment.European stroke journal · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 9 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This meta-analysis combines the results of two identical stroke studies (CARS-1 and CARS-2) assessing efficacy of Cerebrolysin on motor recovery during early rehabilitation. Cerebrolysin is a parenterally administered neuropeptide preparation approved for the treatment of stroke. Both studies had a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design. Treatment with 30 ml Cerebrolysin once daily for 3 weeks was started 24-72 h after stroke onset. In addition, patients participated in a standardized rehabilitation program for 21 days that was initiated within 72 h after stroke onset. For both studies, the original analysis data were used for meta-analysis (individual patient data analysis). The combination of these two studies by meta-analytic procedures was pre-planned, and the methods were pre-defined under blinded conditions. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney (MW) effect size of the two studies on the ARAT score on day 90 indicated superiority of Cerebrolysin compared with placebo (MW 0.62, P < 0.0001, Wei-Lachin pooling procedure, day 90, last observation carried forward; N = 442). Also, analysis of early benefit at day 14 and day 21 by means of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, which is regarded as most sensitive to early improvements, showed statistical significance (MW 0.59, P < 0.002). The corresponding number-needed-to-treat (NNT) for clinically relevant changes in early NIHSS was 7.1 (95% CI: 4 to 22). Cerebrolysin had a beneficial effect on motor function and neurological status in early rehabilitation patients after acute ischemic stroke. Safety aspects were comparable to placebo, showing a favourable benefit/risk ratio.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.