2024 Volume 46 Issue 5 Pages 348-354
Objective: Statins are the recommended treatment course for dyslipidemia in patients with ischemic stroke. However, it remains unclear whether statins are effective and safe for use in very elderly patients. Therefore, we performed a retrospective study to elucidate this. Methods: All participants were enrolled between January 2017 and December 2021 in our hospital. The hospitalized patients who were aged ≥80 years and had atherothrombotic cerebral infarction or lacunar infarction were enrolled. Patients were eligible to participate if they could be followed for 1 year after the study onset. Outcomes were assessed for the mRS, hospital stay, LDL-C, and adverse events after statin initiation. Results: In total, 102 patients were included: 33 received statins and 69 did not receive statins. In the statin group, the mRS was 2.6 at discharge, and there were no in-hospital deaths. The length of hospital stay was significantly shorter in the statin group than in the untreated group (27.6 days vs. 38.6 days, p=0.023). The LDL-C on admission was approximately 115 mg/dl in both groups; it decreased to 84 mg/dl after 12 weeks in the statin group. There were no major adverse events at 48 weeks of statin therapy. Conclusions: Although patient background should be noted, we found that elderly patients who were able to begin statin treatment tended to have milder neuromotor function due to cerebrovascular disease and a shorter hospital stay at discharge.
