Statins in ICH.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Do statins exhibit anti-inflammatory actions which improve outcomes following intracerebral haemorrhage?
IRAS ID
202401
Contact name
Adrian Parry-Jones
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 31 days
Research summary
Intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) is a type of stroke caused by a bleed in the brain. It accounts for about 20% of all strokes but there are few treatment options available. Many ICH patients die or are left with severe long term disability often due to the swelling in the brain that occurs after ICH.
A number of patients who go on to have an ICH are already taking long term medicines, known as statins, which reduce the amount of fat in the blood and used to prevent heart attacks and strokes. Patients who were taking statins at the time of ICH have been shown to have lower levels inflammation present in their blood and this may improve their recovery.
This study will collect information on groups of patients who have suffered an ICH and fall into one of three groups: a) those who were taking a statin before ICH, b) those who were taking a statin before ICH that was stopped on admission to hospital and c) those patients who never took a statin. We will compare the number of patients in each group who died within 30 days following ICH. We will look at the levels of inflammation in the blood at admission to see if this was lower in those taking statins and to see whether this had any effect on the number of deaths. We will also look at brain scans performed at admission and 48-96 hours later to measure the amount of brain swelling and see if taking a statin had any effect.
We hope to provide evidence to suggest that, as well as lowering levels of fats in the blood; taking a statin long term may improve the survival of ICH patients and therefore could be used more widely.
REC name
South West - Cornwall & Plymouth Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/SW/0085
Date of REC Opinion
21 Mar 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion