Double-dose statin treatment may reduce incidence of post-stroke epilepsy

Key findings of the study were:

• In the standard-dose group, the researchers observed two cases of early seizure (ES) (0.25%), 22 cases of late seizure (LS) (2.79%) and 20 cases of PSE (2.54%). In the double-dose group, they observed that one patient had ES (0.41%), two patients had LS (0.82%), and one patient had PSE (0.41%).
• They found that the incidence of PSE was significantly lower in the double-dose group as compared to the standard-dose group.
• They also found a higher proportion of PSE in patients younger than 65 years and males.
• They reported that three patients had ES; one presented with focal aware seizure (FAS), and two had focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizure (FBTCS).
• Among the 21 patients with PSE, they noted two cases of FAS, five cases of focal impaired awareness seizure (FIAS), five cases of FBTCS, and nine cases of GTCS, which implies that partial seizure is the most common type of PSE.
• They also noted that the cerebral cortex was involved in 85.75% of cases with PSE, and multiple lobes were involved in 61.9% of cases with PSE.

The authors concluded, " Increasing the dose of statin treatment during the acute phase of ischemic stroke reduces the incidence of PSE. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying the potential preventative effects of statins against post-stroke epilepsy (PSE) ."

For further information:

https://www.seizure-journal.com/article/S1059-1311(21)00126-6/fulltext