Comparative Effectiveness of Rosuvastatin Versus Atorvastatin in Acute Ischemic Stroke Treatment

Abstract

Background: Research specifically addressing the efficacy of rosuvastatin versus atorvastatin in patients with ischemic stroke is insufficient. Using a large stroke registry, we investigated whether 2 commonly used statins, rosuvastatin and atorvastatin, differ in their effectiveness in reducing the risk of vascular events in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

Methods: We analyzed data from a nationwide stroke registry in South Korea between January 2011 and April 2022. Patients with acute ischemic stroke within 7 days of onset who were prescribed either atorvastatin or rosuvastatin at discharge were included. The primary outcome was a composite of recurrent stroke (either hemorrhagic or ischemic), myocardial infarction, and all‐cause mortality within 1 year.

Results: A total of 43 512 patients (age, 69.2±12.5 years; male, 59.8%) were analyzed in this study. Atorvastatin was used in 84.8% (n=36 903), and rosuvastatin was used in 15.2% (n=6609). The 1‐year cumulative event rate of the composite of recurrent stroke, myocardial infarction, and all‐cause mortality was significantly lower in the rosuvastatin group than in the atorvastatin group (9.7% [95% CI, 9.0–10.5] versus 10.7% [95% CI, 10.4–11.0]; P=0.049). Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed that rosuvastatin, compared with atorvastatin, was significantly associated with less risk of 1‐year composite of recurrent stroke, myocardial infarction, and all‐cause mortality, with an absolute risk reduction of 1% [95% CI, −1.8 to −0.2] and a relative risk reduction of 11% (hazard ratio, 0.89 [95% CI, 0.82–0.97]). However, there were discrepancies in the statistical significance of the results between the propensity score matching and stabilized inverse probability of treatment weighting analysis.

Conclusions: The results of this analysis of a large cohort of patients with ischemic stroke suggested that, compared with atorvastatin, rosuvastatin was significantly associated with a reduced risk of a 1‐year composite of recurrent stroke, myocardial infarction, and all‐cause mortality in patients with acute ischemic stroke. However, in real clinical practice, rosuvastatin is used less than one‐fifth as frequently as atorvastatin in patients with acute ischemic stroke. This study serves as a hypothesis‐generating function.