The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7414 p213
19 August 2006

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Risk of further stroke reduced with high-dose statin use

Statins can reduce the risk of further strokes in people who have experienced a recent stroke or transient ischaemic attack and who do not have a history of coronary heart disease, a recent study suggests (New England Journal of Medicine 2006;355:549).

In the stroke prevention by aggressive reduction in cholesterol levels (SPARCL) trial, funded by Pfizer, manufacturer of Lipitor, 4,731 patients were randomly assigned to either 80mg atorvastatin or placebo and monitored for a median of 4.9 years. Patients were also treated with antiplatelet agents along with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, dihydropyridine derivatives, beta-blockers, angiotensin II-receptor antagonists, vitamin K antagonists or open-label statins.

Data reveal that atorvastatin was associated with a 16 per cent relative risk reduction for non-fatal or fatal strokes overall (hazard ratio 0.84, 95 per cent confidence interval 0.71–0.99; P=0.03) although risk of haemorrhagic stroke was slightly increased. Patients treated with atorvastatin also had a reduced risk of coronary and cardiovascular events and required fewer coronary revascularisation procedures.