Letter by Scheitz et al Regarding Article, “Randomized Controlled Trial of Early Versus Delayed Statin Therapy in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke: ASSORT Trial (Administration of Statin on Acute Ischemic Stroke Patient)”

Based on the evidence from the SPARCL trial (Stroke Prevention by Aggressive Reduction in Cholesterol Levels), statins are generally recommended to reduce stroke and cardiovascular events among patients with recent atherothrombotic stroke or transient ischemic attack.1 Because of rapid cholesterol-independent vasoprotective effects of statins shown in experimental settings,2 there is an ongoing discussion whether it might be beneficial to start statin treatment as early as possible.Adding to this discussion, we read with interest the results from the randomized, controlled ASSORT (Administration of Statin on Acute Ischemic Stroke Patient) trial.3 Although the trial missed the primary endpoint on improvement of modified Rankin Scale at 3 months, there were no safety concerns attributable to early statin administration. This is in line with the STARS trial (Stroke Treatment …