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Background and Purpose: Statins reduce the risk of stroke recurrence, but the benefits of statins in improving outcome of acute stroke patients have not been well explored., Methods: We assessed potential effects of statins initiated before or within 4 weeks of stroke on 90-day outcome. Favorable outcomes were National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score < or =2 at 12 weeks and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) < or =2., Results: Before stroke, 129 patients were receiving statins, 123 initiated statins within 4 weeks, and 600 patients were not on statins. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that poststroke statins were associated with a significant probability of a favorable outcome at 12 weeks [NIHSS (P=0.002; OR, 1.92; CI, 1.27 to 2.91) and mRS (P=0.033; OR, 1.57; CI, 1.04 to 2.38)], whereas prestroke statins demonstrated a trend toward significance., Conclusions: These preliminary results suggest that statin use may improve outcome of acute ischemic stroke.

Citicoline is approved in Europe and Japan for use in stroke, head trauma and other neurological disorders. It is presently being evaluated in phase II/III stroke trials in the United States. Exogenous administration of CDP-choline provides both choline and cytidine which access the brain and serve as substrates for the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine, a primary neuronal membrane component; the choline also enhances brain acetylcholine synthesis. Membrane repair and regeneration is necessary for recovery from stroke. Furthermore, citicoline may alleviate free fatty acid-induced toxicity which accompanies ischemic insult. Data from many pre-clinical and clinical trials support the hypothesis that citicoline may be a safe and effective treatment for stroke.