Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · May 2009
ReviewSimvastatin for the prevention of symptomatic cerebral vasospasm following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a single-institution prospective cohort study.
Vasospasm is the major cause of disability and death after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Although the results of 2 randomized clinical trials demonstrated that statin decreases the incidence of symptomatic cerebral vasospasm after aSAH, retrospective studies have failed to confirm this. The authors conducted a prospective observational study to determine whether a standardized regimen of simvastatin would reduce the incidence of cerebral vasospasm and improve neurological outcomes in patients with aSAH. ⋯ The uniform introduction of simvastatin did not reduce the incidence of symptomatic cerebral vasospasm, death, or poor outcome in patients with aSAH. Simvastatin was well tolerated, but its benefit may be less than has been previously reported.