Some randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of lipid-lowering therapy patients who had a stroke
| RCT | EUREKA | STARS | ASSORT | SPARCL | TST | INSPIRES |
| Population | Ischaemic stroke | Ischaemic stroke | Ischaemic stroke | Stroke or TIA | Ischaemic stroke/TIA | Ischaemic stroke/TIA |
| Age, years | ＞20 | ≥18 | ≥20 | ≥18 | ≥18 | 35–80 |
| NIHSS | – | 4–22 | 0–20 | – | – | 0–5 |
| premorbid mRS | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 0–2 |
| Blood lipid | LDL-C ≤190 mg/dL TG ≤500 mg/dL | – | Dyslipidaemia or LDL-C ≥100 mg/dL | LDL-C 100–190 mg/dL | LDL-C ≥100 mg/dL with or without statin usage | – |
| Start | ≤48 hours | ≤12 hours | ≤24 hours | 1–6 months | Ischaemic stroke ≤3 months TIA ≤15 days | ≤72 hours |
| Intervention | Rosuvastatin | Simvastatin | Atorvastatin, pitavastatin, or rosuvastatin for days 1–84. | Atorvastatin | Any type of statin with or without other lipid-lowering drugs, with target LDL-C ≤70 mg/dL | Atorvastatin (80 mg/day) for the first 21 days followed by 40 mg daily for days 22–90 |
| Control | Placebo | Placebo | Atorvastatin, pitavastatin, or rosuvastatin for days 7–84. | Placebo | Any type of statin with or without other lipid-lowering drugs, with target LDL-C 90–110 mg/dL | Placebo for days 1–3, followed by atorvastatin(40 mg/day) for days 4–90. |
| Dose | Rosuvastatin 20 mg/day | Simvastatin 40 mg/day | Atorvastatin 20 mg/day, pitavastatin 4 mg/day or rosuvastatin 5 mg/day, with LDL-C maintained <1.8 mmol/L | Atorvastatin 80 mg/day | Any dose | – |
| Primary outcome | New ischaemic lesions on DWI at five or 14 days | Proportion of independent patients (mRS ≤2) at 90 days | Patient disability at 90 days | A first non-fatal or fatal stroke | Major cardiovascular events | Stroke at 90 days |
| Follow-up | 14 days | 90 days | 90 days | 4.9 years (median) | 3.5 years (median) | 90 days |
| N | 316 | 104 | 257 | 4731 | 2860 | 6100 |
| Result | No significance | No significance | No significance | Atorvastatin decreased the incidence of strokes. | The target LDL-C ≤70 mg/dL reduced the incidence of cardiovascular events. | – |
DWI, diffusion-weighted imaging; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; mRS, modified Rankin Scale; NIHSS, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; TST, treat Stroke to target.