Statin effects on post-stroke epilepsy and mortality - Taiwan population-based study

Objectives: Statins have anti-inflammatory effects on several neurological diseases. However, their effects on post-stroke epilepsy and mortality have not been well studied. Method: This is a retrospective cohort study, based on the one-million random data from National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) of Taiwan. We identified stroke inpatients during 2000-2009. They were grouped into statin users and non-users, and followed up to 2010. Excluded were those with in-hospital mortality, in-hospital seizure(s), epileptic history, antiepileptic drug use before admission, or age under 45. The hazard ratios of statin-associated epilepsy and mortality were analyzed separately. Results: There were 16,711 statin non-users and 2246 users. There was no significant differences between the two groups in terms of epilepsy (13.3 vs. 15.7 per 1000 person-years, p = 0.728) and overall mortality (66.3 vs. 104.6 per 1000 person-years, p = 0.351). Subgroup analysis of male patients showed that statin-users had lower mortality risk compared with non-users (60.2 vs. 113.0 per 1000 person-years, p = 0.032). Conclusion: Statins have a modest but non-significant effect in preventing post-apoplectic epilepsy in Taiwan. Statins decrease post-stroke mortality only in men. Further studies are needed to depict their exact roles in these issues.