Archief Roodbont

Reuters Health Information 2008. © 2008 Reuters Ltd.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jun 11 - Pretreatment with statins is associated with a better stroke outcome in white patients, but no beneficial effects are evident among black patients, according to the results of a study published in the June issue of Stroke.

Dr. Matthew Reeves, of Michigan State University, East Lansing, and colleagues examined the effects of pretreatment with statins on poor outcome, defined as a modified Rankin score of at least 4 at discharge, in ischemic stroke patients. The researchers prospectively identified all acute ischemic stroke admissions over a 6-month period in 15 hospitals participating in a statewide acute stroke registry.

Out of 1360 ischemic stroke patients, 309 (22.7%) were taking statins before admission.

Overall, 577 subjects (42.4%) had a poor stroke outcome. Of the total 1360 patients, 76 (5.6%) died in-hospital. The rate of in-hospital mortality was lower among statin users than non-users (2.3% versus 6.6%, respectively).

After multivariable adjustment, an association was observed between statin pretreatment and a 26% reduction in the odds of a poor outcome.

A significant interaction (p < or =" 0.61).">

"The matched propensity score analyses were concordant with the results of the multivariable risk adjusted models," Dr. Reeves and colleagues note. "Separate analyses performed among whites and blacks showed the ORs for pretreatment with statins to be 0.71 and 1.75, respectively, with the estimate for whites being statistically significant at p <>

These findings document a beneficial effect of statins on stroke outcome, the researchers conclude, and suggest that randomized trials are needed to investigate the apparent racial differences in the response to the effects of these cholesterol-lower drugs on ischemic stroke outcomes, the researcher conclude.

Stroke 2008;39:1779-1785.