Statin Pretreatment Improves Outcomes After Ischemic Stroke

Statin Pretreatment Improves Outcomes After Ischemic Stroke
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
By: Nikki Withers

Nikki Withers

Pretreatment with statins is associated with improved functional outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke, say researchers.

Their data also show that this association appears to be strongest in patients with small vessel stroke, compared with other stroke subtypes.

"These findings suggest that statin exposure antecedent to acute cerebral ischemia may reduce its severity or improve immediate recovery from it," explain the authors in the journal Stroke.

Natalia Rost (Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Maryland, USA) and team investigated the effect of statin use before acute ischemic stroke in over 11,500 patients (aged ≥18 years) by performing a meta-analysis of results from 11 previously published studies and data from a cohort of patients admitted to the Massachusetts General Hospital Stroke Unit between 2003 and 2007.

They also determined whether the effect of statin use differed across individual Trial of ORG 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment (TOAST) stroke subtypes.