Published Online
on May 5, 2005

A more recent version of this article appeared on June 1, 2005

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Submitted on January 6, 2005
Accepted on January 31, 2005

HMG-CoA Reductase Inhibitors Improve Acute Ischemic Stroke Outcome

Majaz Moonis MD, MRCP(I), DM^*; Kevin Kane MA; Ute Schwiderski PhD; Bobby W. Sandage PhD; and Marc Fisher MD

From the Department of Neurology (M.M., K.K., M.F.), University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Mass; Indevus Pharmaceuticals, Inc (U.S., B.W.S.), Lexington, Mass.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: moonism{at}ummhc.org.

Background and Purpose--Statins reduce the risk of stroke recurrence, but the benefits of statins in improving outcome of acute stroke patients have not been well explored.

Methods--We assessed potential effects of statins initiated before or within 4 weeks of stroke on 90-day outcome. Favorable outcomes were National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score 2 at 12 weeks and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 2.

Results--Before stroke, 129 patients were receiving statins, 123 initiated statins within 4 weeks, and 600 patients were not on statins. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that poststroke statins were associated with a significant probability of a favorable outcome at 12 weeks [NIHSS (P=0.002; OR, 1.92; CI, 1.27 to 2.91) and mRS (P=0.033; OR, 1.57; CI, 1.04 to 2.38)], whereas prestroke statins demonstrated a trend toward significance.

Conclusions--These preliminary results suggest that statin use may improve outcome of acute ischemic stroke.

Key words: ischemia • stroke • stroke outcome

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