Do statins reduce the mortality rate in stroke patients treated with systemic thrombolysis in a 5-year single-center study?

The present study investigated the association between pre-treatment with a cholesterol-lowering drug(statin) or new setting hereon and the effect on the mortality rate in patients with acute ischemic stroke who received intravenous systemic thrombolysis. During a 5-year period(starting in October 2008), 542 consecutive stroke patients who received intravenous systemic thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator(rt-PA) at the Department of Neurology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Germany, were included. Patients were characterized according to statins. The primary endpoint was mortality;it was assessed twice: in hospital and 3 months after discharge. The secondary outcome was the rate of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage. Of the 542 stroke patients examined(mean age 72 ± 13 years;51% women, mean National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale(NIHSS) score 11), 138 patients(25.5%) had been pretreated with statin, while in 190 patients(35.1%) statin therapy was initiated during their stay in hospital, whereas 193(35.6%) never received statins. Patients pre-treated with statin were older and more frequently had previous illnesses(arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus and previous cerebral infarctions), but were comparably similarly affected by the stroke(NIHSS 11 vs. 11;P = 0.76) compared to patients who were not on statin treatment at the time of cerebral infarction. Patients pretreated with statin did not differ in 3-month mortality from those newly treated to a statin(7.6% vs. 8%;P = 0.9). Interestingly, the group of patients pretreated with statin showed a lower rate of in hospital mortality(6.6% vs. 17.0;P = 0.005) and 3-month mortality(10.7% vs. 23.7%;P = 0.005) than the group of patients who had no statin treatment at all. The same effect was seen for patients newly adjusted to a statin during the hospital stay compared to patients who did not receive statins(3-month mortality: 7.1% vs. 23.7%;P < 0.001). With a good functional outcome(mRS ≤ 2), 60% of patients were discharged, the majority(69.6%;P < 0.001) of whom received a statin at discharge. The rate of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhages in the course of cranial computed tomography was independent of whether the patients were pretreated with a statin or not(8.8% vs. 8.7%, P = 0.96). Pre-treatment with statin as well as new adjustment could reveal positive effect on prognosis of intravenous thrombolyzed stroke patients. Further investigations are required. The study was approved by the Ethic Committee of the University of Lübeck(approval No. 4-147).

Is transesophageal echocardiography needed for evaluating tissue-based transient ischemic attack？

Transient ischemic attack（TIA） is a warning signal for stroke.A comprehensive evaluation of TIA may reduce the risk for subsequent stroke.Data on the findings of cardiac evaluation with transesophageal echocardiography（TEE） in patients with TIA are sparse.Our aims were to determine the frequency of TEE performance and to investigate the findings of TEE in patients with TIA based on the new definition of TIA（i.e.,transient neurological symptoms without evidence of infarction）.During a 4-year period（2011–2014）,1071 patients（mean age,70 ± 13 years;female,49.7%） with TIA were included in a prospective study and evaluated.Of 1071 consecutive patients suffering from TIA,288 patients（27%） underwent TEE.The median time between admission and TEE was 6 days.Patients with TIA who were evaluated by TEE were younger（67 vs.71 years,P 〈 0.001） than those who were not evaluated by TEE.They had a higher rate of sensibility disturbance as a TIA symptom（39% vs.31%,P = 0.012） but a lower rate of previous stroke（15% vs.25%,P = 0.001） and atrial fibrillation（2% vs.21%,P 〈 0.001） than those who did not.Foramen ovale was detected in 71 patients（25.7%）,atrial septal aneurysm in 13 patients（4.6%）,and severe atherosclerotic plaques（grade 4 and 5） in the aortic arch in 25 patients（8.7%）.One patient（0.3%） had a fibroma detected by TEE.In 17 of the 288 patients（6%） who underwent TEE,the indication for anticoagulation therapy was based on the TEE results,and 1 patient with fibroma underwent heart surgery.During hospitalization,7 patients experienced a subsequent stroke,and 27 patients had a recurrent TIA.At 3 months following discharge,the rates of readmission,stroke,recurrent TIA,and death were 19%,2.7%,4.2%,and 1.6%,respectively.The rates of mortality（0.9% vs.1.8%,P = 0.7）,stroke risk（1.9% vs.3.0%,P = 0.8）,and recurrent TIA（5.0% vs.3.9%,P = 0.8） were similar in patients who underwent TEE and in those who did not.Performing TEE in patients with tissue-based TIA is helpful in detecting cardiac sources for embolism and may indicate for anticoagulation.