Do “statins” increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke?
Susan Fagan, Pharm.D., BCPS, FCCP February, 2008 Reference: Goldstein LB, Amarenco P, Szarek M, Callahan A 3rd, Hennerici M, Sillesen H, Zivin JA, Welch KM; On behalf of the SPARCL Investigators. Hemorrhagic stroke in the Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels study. Neurology. 2007 Dec 12 [Epub ahead of print]. This is the report of a posthoc analysis of data from the recently published SPARCL trial, in which atorvastatin 80 mg daily was found to significantly reduce the risk of recurrent stroke (16% RRR) when initiated within 6 months of the initial event. The study was very important because, although there was plenty of evidence that statins reduced stroke in patients with coronary artery disease, there was no clinical trial data to support a reduction in recurrent stroke in patients with no history of coronary disease. Most stroke experts have adopted a broad use of statins for secondary prevention in patients with ischemic stroke and many now recommend th
