Low-dose statins improve prognosis of patients with ischaemic stroke undergoing intra-arterial thrombectomy: A prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND

High-dose statins are recommended as preventive drugs in guidelines for patients with ischaemic stroke undergoing thrombectomy. Not only in clinical practice but also based on large-scale studies, low-dose statins have been widely used and demonstrated to be efficient in Asian populations. However, it remains unknown whether a low-dose statin is related to the prognosis of patients with thrombectomy. Can low-dose statins reduce the risk of bleeding at the same time?

METHODS

We prospectively collected data from patients with acute ischaemic stroke undergoing intra-arterial thrombectomy. Efficacy outcomes were National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score improvement at 7 days after admission and a favourable functional outcome (FFO) at 90 days. Safety outcomes were rates of in-hospital haemorrhage events and death within 2 years.

RESULTS

We included 256 patients in this study. Compared with the control group, the low-dose statin group had a higher NIHSS improvement rate at 7 days, a higher FFO rate at 90 days and a lower death rate within 2 years. The low-dose statin group had a lower percentage of gastrointestinal haemorrhage. Statin use was significantly related to an improved NIHSS score (p = 0.028, OR = 1.773) at 7 days and FFO (P < 0.001, OR = 2.962) at 90 days and to lower death rates (P = 0.025, or = 0.554) within 2 years.

CONCLUSION

In Asian acute ischaemic stroke patients with intra-arterial thrombectomy, low-dose statin use was significantly related to NIHSS improvement at 7 days, FFO at 90 days and decreased death rates within 2 years.