No relationship of lipid-lowering agents to hematoma growth: pooled analysis of the intensive blood pressure reduction in acute cerebral hemorrhage trials studies.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Controversy persists over statins and risk of intracerebral hemorrhage. We determined associations of premorbid lipid-lowering therapy and outcomes among participants of the Intensive Blood Pressure Reduction in Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage Trials (INTERACT).

METHODS

The pooled data of INTERACT 1 and 2 (international, multicenter, prospective, open, blinded end point, randomized controlled trials of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage [<6 hours] and elevated systolic blood pressure) were analyzed with regard to associations of baseline lipid-lowering treatment and clinical outcomes of 3184 participants in a multivariate model. Associations of lipid-lowering therapy and hematoma growth (baseline to 24 hours) in computed tomographic substudies participants (n=1310) were estimated in ANCOVA.

RESULTS

Among 204 patients (6.5%) with baseline lipid-lowering treatment, 90-day clinical outcomes were not significantly different after adjustment for confounding variables including region and age. In the computed tomographic substudy, 24-hour hematoma growth was greater in 124 patients (9%) with, compared with those without, prior lipid-lowering therapy. However, this association was not significant between groups (9.2 versus 6.8 mL; P<0.13), after adjustment for prior antithrombotic therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

No independent associations were found between lipid-lowering medication and adverse outcomes in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION URL

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00226096 and NCT00716079.