Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Stroke

Do statins improve outcomes after acute ischemic stroke?

Accumulating evidence suggests that prestroke statin therapy could improve functional recovery following acute ischemic stroke. A recent meta-analysis of previous findings and a new study support this suggestion. These findings should, however, be interpreted with caution owing to possible publication bias favoring small studies with positive results.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Lloyd-Jones, D. et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics—2009 update: a report from the American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Circulation 2009, 480–486 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Wardlaw, J. M., Murray, V., Berge, E. & Del Zoppo, G. J. Thrombolysis for acute ischaemic stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD000213. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD000213.pub2 (2009).

  3. Willey, J. Z. & Elkind, M. S. 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors in the treatment of central nervous system diseases. Arch. Neurol. 67, 1062–1067 (2010).

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Biffi, A. et al. Statin treatment and functional outcome after ischemic stroke: case–control and meta-analysis. Stroke 42, 1314–1319 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Amarenco, P. et al. High-dose atorvastatin after stroke or transient ischemic attack. N. Engl. J. Med. 355, 549–559 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Westover, M. B., Bianchi, M. T., Eckman, M. H. & Greenberg, S. M. Statin use following intracerebral hemorrhage: a decision analysis. Arch. Neurol. 68, 573–579 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Meier, N. et al. Prior statin use, intracranial hemorrhage, and outcome after intra-arterial thrombolysis for acute ischemic stroke. Stroke 40, 1729–1737 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Miedema, I., Uyttenboogaart, M., Koopman, K., De Keyser, J. & Luijckx, G. J. Statin use and functional outcome after tissue plasminogen activator treatment in acute ischaemic stroke. Cerebrovasc. Dis. 29, 263–267 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Prinz, V. et al. Intravenous rosuvastatin for acute stroke treatment: an animal study. Stroke 39, 433–438 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Elkind, M. S. et al. High-dose lovastatin for acute ischemic stroke: results of the phase I dose escalation neuroprotection with statin therapy for acute recovery trial (NeuSTART). Cerebrovasc. Dis. 28, 266–275 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

J. Z. Willey and M. S. V. Elkind are supported by NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke grants R37 NS029993, R01 NS050724, RO1 NS048134 and P50 NS049060.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mitchell S. V. Elkind.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Willey, J., Elkind, M. Do statins improve outcomes after acute ischemic stroke?. Nat Rev Neurol 7, 364–365 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2011.92

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2011.92

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing