Abstract Body: Background: The use of statins following intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is disputed. Prior studies have found inconsistent effects of statins on the risk of subsequent ICH and other outcome measures. Moreover, many previous studies do not distinguish between post-ICH statin treatment in patients resuming previous statin therapy versus initiation in statin-naïve patients. This meta-analysis consolidates the evidence surrounding the use of therapies following ICH, with a focus on mortality in these two subgroups.

Methods: A comprehensive search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Library was conducted up to 2024 to identify studies on statin initiation or resumption versus no statin use in intracerebral/intraparenchymal hemorrhage patients, yielding 8 studies meeting inclusion/exclusion criteria. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO, and data were analyzed using a Pairwise Meta Analysis in R, applying common and random effects models with heterogeneity assessed via I² statistics. Mortality outcomes were categorized into “short-term” (≤90 days) and “long-term” (>90 days to 1 year) mortality.

Results: Mortality events occurred in 2946 out of 9501 patients (31.0%) in the control group, 123 out of 2248 patients (5.5%) in the statin initiation group, and 787 out of 3944 patients (20.0%) in the statin resumption group. For the ≤90 days timeframe, the random effects model showed a significant reduction in mortality with statin initiation, with a relative risk (RR) of 0.15 (95% CI [0.081; 0.26], p < 0.0001), and with statin resumption, the RR was 0.32 (95% CI [0.18; 0.55], p < 0.0001). Heterogeneity was high, with an I² of 84.3%. For the >90 days up to 1 year timeframe, statin initiation was associated with a reduction in mortality, with an RR of 0.39 (95% CI [0.29; 0.53], p < 0.0001). Statin resumption also showed a reduction in mortality, with an RR of 0.65 (95% CI [0.46; 0.92], p = 0.0145). Heterogeneity was moderate, with an I² of 41.7%.

Conclusion: Statin therapy following ICH, whether through initiation or resumption, is associated with a significant reduction in mortality both within 90 days and beyond 90 days up to one year. Interestingly, statin initiation showed a stronger effect compared to resumption. These findings support the continuation or initiation of statins in the acute phases of ICH management regardless of previous statin use.