BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) represents 
the most fatal kind of stroke, and there is still no treatment available that 
improves the outcome. Statins are cholesterol reducers, and during the last few 
years many additional effects have been demonstrated that might be 
neuroprotective. We designed a pilot clinical study in order to evaluate whether 
the administration of statins is associated with a better outcome.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: From August to December 2006 we carried out a 
prospective/retrospective non-randomized clinical study. The prospective group 
was treated with rosuvastatin (20 mg) and the retrospective control group was 
taken from our clinical records with a relation of 1:3. We included patients of 
both sexes, aged > or =15 years with proven ICH in CT-scan. Exclusion criteria 
were a history of neoplasm, head injury four weeks before admission, 
non-hypertensive reasons, brainstem hemorrhage, steroid administration, cranial 
surgery, initial hydrocephalus, and NIHSS > or =30.
RESULTS: We analyzed 18 patients treated with rosuvastatin and 57 controls with 
similar basic characteristics. The mortality rate during hospitalization was 1 
(5.6%) patient in the statin group and 9 (15.8%) in the control group; the 
hazard ratio adjusted by the initial Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), intubation, 
admission in intensive care unit, disruption into the subarachnoid space was 
0.20 (95% CI 0.02-1.67). The odds ratio for NIHSS > or =15 at release was 0.04 
(95% CI 0.003-0.93).
CONCLUSIONS: The use of statins during the acute phase of ICH could be 
associated with a better outcome. Further clinical trials are necessary to 
confirm a possible therapeutic effect and evaluate the toxicity of statins.