Cognitive outcome in acute simvastatin treatment for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: A propensity matched analysis

Abstract

Objectives Experimental evidence has indicated the benefit of simvastatin in the treatment of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Recently, acute simvastatin treatment was not shown to be beneficial in neurological outcome using modified Rankin Scale. Cognitive function is another important dimension of outcome assessment and yet had not been investigated in statin studies for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. We therefore explored whether acute simvastatin treatment would improve cognitive outcomes. Methods The study recruited SAH patients with acute simvastatin treatment enrolled in a randomized controlled double-blinded clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01038193). A control cohort of SAH patients without simvastatin treatment was identified with propensity score matching of age and admission grade. Primary outcome measure was Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Secondary outcome measures were delayed ischaemic deficit (DID), delayed cerebral infarction, modified Rankin Scale (MRS), and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results Fifty-one SAH patients with acute simvastatin treatment and 51 SAH patients without simvastatin treatment were recruited for analysis. At 3 months, there were no differences in MoCA scores (MoCA: 21 +/- 6 vs. 21 +/- 5, p = 0.772). MoCA-assessed cognitive impairment (MoCA < 26) was not different (75% vs. 80%, OR 0.7, 95%CI 0.3 to 1.8, p = 0.477). There were also no differences in DID, delayed cerebral infarction, favorable MRS outcome, and MMSE scores, and MMSE-assessed cognitive impairment between both groups. Conclusions The current study does not support that acute simvastatin treatment improves cognitive outcome after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage.