Medical Management of Dyslipidemia for Secondary Stroke Prevention: Narrative Review

Yoonkyung Chang, Soojeong Eom, Minjeong Kim, Tae Jin Song

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor for stroke, following hypertension, diabetes, and smoking, and is an important risk factor for the prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease and peripheral vascular disease, including stroke. Recent guidelines recommend considering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)-lowering therapies, such as statins (preferably), ezetimibe, or proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors to prevent the occurrence or recurrence of stroke, adhering to the “lower is better” approach. In this review, we examined the evidence supporting lipid-lowering medications like statins, ezetimibe, and PCSK9 inhibitors for secondary stroke prevention and dyslipidemia management in different stroke subtypes. Stroke guidelines advocate for administering the maximum tolerable dose of statins as the primary treatment and as soon as possible despite the potential for new-onset diabetes mellitus and possible muscle and liver toxicity due to their demonstrated benefits in secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases and mortality reduction. When statin use is insufficient for LDL lowering, ezetimibe and PCSK9 inhibitors are recommended as complementary therapies. It is essential to establish lipid-lowering therapy goals based on the stroke subtype and the presence of comorbidities.

Original languageEnglish
Article number776
JournalMedicina (Lithuania)
Volume59
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.

Keywords

  • PCSK9 inhibitor
  • dyslipidemia
  • ezetimibe
  • statin
  • stroke

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