%0 Journal Article
%T Effects of Pitavastatin on the Intima-Media Thickness of the Carotid Artery in Patients with Ischemic Stroke: The Pitavastatin Efficacy Study on Surrogate Markers and Imaging for Stroke (PESSMIST)
%A Yasushi Shibata
%J World Journal of Neuroscience
%P 306-312
%@ 2162-2019
%D 2014
%I Scientific Research Publishing
%R 10.4236/wjns.2014.44034
%X <p style=\"text-align:justify;\">
	<span style=\"font-size:12px;font-family:Verdana;\">Pitavastatin is a strong statin that was developed in Japan. The clinical
impact of pitavastatin treatment in patients with ischemic stroke has not been
reported. We conducted a prospective, open label, clinical case-control study
to determine the secondary preventive effects of pitavastatin for patients with
cerebral infarction and hyperlipidemia. The pitavastatin group included 20
Japanese patients diagnosed with cerebral infarction and hyperlipidemia without
previous statin intake. The control group included 22 patients diagnosed with
cerebral infarction without hyperlipidemia. The pitavastatin group of patients
received 2 mg of pitavastatin once a day after dinner. The mean age of the
patients was 69.3 and 75.5 years for the pitavastatin and control groups, respectively,
and the age of the pitavastatin group was significantly younger than that of
the control group (P &lt; 0.05). The serum TCho and LDL-C levels significantly
decreased two months after the initiation of pitavastatin treatment. The mean and
maximum intima-media thickness (IMT) also decreased after the initiation of
pitavastatin. The mean and maximum IMT did not show any significant changes in
the control group. The change of IMT %/year was less than zero for the pitavastatin
group, and was almost zero or higher for the control group. Pitavastatin showed
beneficial effects by improving the surrogate makers of stroke. These surrogate
makers were effective to evaluate the efficacy of pitavastatin to prevent
secondary stroke. Although a prospective randomized study is required to
elucidate the long-term effects of pitavastatin, the current study suggests
that pitavastatin may be effective to prevent secondary stroke in patients with
stroke and hyperlipidemia.</span>
</p>
%K Pitavastatin
%K Stroke
%K ECHO
%K IMT
%K Hyperlipidemia
%U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=48032