Statins can lead to increased survival after hemorrhagic stroke, study finds

Patients who were treated with a statin in hospital after suffering from a hemorrhagic stroke were significantly more likely to survive than those who were not, according to a study published in JAMA Neurology.

The study included 3,481 individuals who were admitted to any of 20 Kaiser Permanente hospitals in Northern California with a hemorrhagic stroke over a 10-year period. Researchers looked at patient survival and discharge 30 days after the stroke. Patients treated with a statin while in the hospital were more likely to be alive 30 days after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke than those who were not treated with a statin — 81.6% versus 61.3%. Patients treated with a statin while in the hospital were also more likely to be discharged to home or an acute rehabilitation facility than those who were not — 51.1% compared to 35%.

Patients taking a statin as an outpatient prior to experiencing a hemorrhagic stroke who did not receive a statin as an inpatient had a mortality rate of 57.8% compared with a mortality rate of 18.9% for patients using a statin before and during hospitalization.