Table 2 Demographic and clinical characteristics of ischemic stroke patients treated with rtPA in combination with a cholesterol reducer, or no cholesterol reducer and with worsening neurologic functions (NIHSS score > 7) and neurologic improvements (NIHSS score ≤ 7). Results for continuous variables are presented as Mean ± SD, while discrete data are presented as percentage frequency. Pearson’s Chi-Square is used to compare differences between demographic and clinical characteristics in groups with a NIHSS score > 7 and NIHSS score ≤ 7 who received rtPA and either took or did not take a cholesterol reducer

Number of patients

321

309

P-value

306

381

P-Value

  < 50 years

32 (10.0)

20 (6.5)

< 0.001*^a

79 (25.8)

60 (15.7)

< 0.001*^a

 50–59

59 (18.4)

44 (14.2)

75 (24.5)

80 (21.0)

 60–69

103 (32.1)

73 (23.6)

71 (23.2)

67 (17.6)

 70–79

81 (25.2)

76 (24.6)

49 (16.0)

80 (21.0)

  > =80

46 (14.3)

96 (31.1)

32 (10.5)

94 (24.7)

Age Mean ± SD

65.95 ± 12.09

70.83 ± 13.26

< 0.001*^b

59.67 ± 15.47

66.31 ± 15.82

< 0.001*^b

 White

277 (86.3)

244 (79.0)

0.050*^a

243 (79.4)

287 (75.3)

0.446

 Black

37 (11.5)

56 (18.1)

54 (17.6)

80 (21.0)

 Other

7 (2.2)

9 (2.9)

9 (2.9)

14 (3.7)

 Female

130 (40.5)

159 (51.5)

0.006*^a

159 (52.0)

205 (53.8)

0.630

 Male

191 (59.5)

150 (48.5)

147 (48.0)

176 (46.2)

Hispanic Ethnicity: No. (%)

7 (2.2)

8 (2.6)

0.737

5 (1.6)

10 (2.6)

0.377

BMI: Mean ± SD

29.72 ± 6.67

28.94 ± 7.72

0.180

29.07 ± 6.72

27.83 ± 6.24

0.014*^b

 Atrial Fib

37 (11.5)

74 (23.9)

< 0.001*^a

35 (11.4)

62 (16.3)

0.070

 Coronary Artery Disease

135 (42.1)

135 (43.7)

0.679

50 (16.3)

74 (19.4)

0.296

 Carotid Artery Stenosis

24 (7.5)

17 (5.5)

0.315

4 (1.3)

11 (2.9)

0.159

 Depression

58 (18.1)

60 (19.4)

0.664

39 (12.7)

48 (12.6)

0.954

 Diabetes

135 (42.1)

124 (40.1)

0.623

66 (21.6)

86 (22.6)

0.753

 Drugs or Alcohol

14 (4.4)

19 (6.1)

0.314

15 (4.9)

28 (7.3)

0.188

 Dyslipidemia

273 (85.0)

265 (85.8)

0.800

75 (24.5)

81 (21.3)

0.312

 Stroke Family History

45 (14.0)

22 (7.1)

0.005*^a

39 (12.7)

24 (6.3)

0.004*^a

 Heart Failure

31 (9.7)

47 (15.2)

0.034*^a

16 (5.2)

41 (10.8)

0.009*^a

 Hormonal Replacement Therapy

10 (3.1)

7 (2.3)

0.510

8 (2.6)

6 (1.6)

0.338

 Hypertension

291 (90.7)

289 (93.5)

0.182

182 (59.5)

273 (71.7)

0.001*^a

 Migraine

11 (3.4)

7 (2.3)

0.382

19 (6.2)

8 (2.1)

0.006*^a

 Obesity

187 (58.3)

146 (47.2)

0.006*^a

172 (56.2)

173 (45.4)

0.005*^a

 Previous Stroke

90 (28.0)

90 (29.1)

0.762

46 (15.0)

62 (16.3)

0.657

 Previous TIA (> 24 h)

45 (14.0)

41 (13.3)

0.784

25 (8.2)

30 (7.9)

0.887

 Prosthetic Heart Valve

2 (0.6)

4 (1.3)

0.386

1 (0.3)

3 (0.8)

0.430

 Peripheral Vascular Disease

25 (7.8)

25 (8.1)

0.888

12 (3.9)

16 (4.2)

0.855

 Chronic Renal Disease

23 (7.2)

24 (7.8)

0.774

11 (3.6)

21 (5.5)

0.236

 Sleep Apnea

16 (5.0)

15 (4.9)

0.940

9 (2.9)

5 (1.3)

0.133

 Smoker

88 (27.4)

69 (22.3)

0.140

117 (38.2)

111 (29.1)

0.012*^a

 HTN medication

286 (89.1)

283 (91.6)

0.291

150 (49.0)

216 (56.7)

0.045*^a

 Diabetes medication

117 (36.4)

106 (34.3)

0.574

45 (14.7)

60 (15.7)

0.706

 Antidepressant

63 (19.6)

64 (20.7)

0.734

44 (14.4)

51 (13.4)

0.708

 Total cholesterol

155.76 ± 41.36

153.88 ± 46.06

0.598

184.85 ± 46.97

178.75 ± 43.84

0.087

 Triglycerides

149.43 ± 115.24

133.22 ± 100.57

0.067

153.54 ± 119.4

128.33 ± 95.18

0.003*^b

 HDL

39.51 ± 11.76

40.65 ± 12.61

0.250

42.49 ± 15.41

44.19 ± 14.03

0.140

 LDL

91.22 ± 34.93

88.74 ± 37.96

0.404

116.22 ± 38.58

112.65 ± 37.26

0.230

 Lipids

6.37 ± 1.61

6.33 ± 1.45

0.727

6.17 ± 1.69

6.17 ± 1.65

0.973

 Blood Glucose

136.22 ± 63.35

147.04 ± 73.66

0.049*^b

138.19 ± 81.28

143.76 ± 79.88

0.372

 Serum Creatinine

1.15 ± 0.54

1.21 ± 0.79

0.233

1.04 ± 0.4

1.16 ± 1.04

0.036*^b

 Initial Platelet Count

159,087.99 ± 131,106.09

170,621.77 ± 120,785.15

0.519

196,175.97 ± 133,607.09

175,315.17 ± 128,742.52

0.245

 INR

1.04 ± 0.12

1.07 ± 0.12

0.005*^b

1.04 ± 0.15

1.07 ± 0.18

0.016*^b

 Heart Rate

79.62 ± 15.03

81.31 ± 17.38

0.191

80.71 ± 16.21

84.98 ± 18.94

0.002*^b

 Blood Pressure Systolic

150.34 ± 25.3

150.94 ± 26.19

0.768

151.62 ± 28.49

152.87 ± 27.51

0.561

 Blood Pressure Diastolic

81.42 ± 16.2

80.44 ± 17.35

0.465

84.92 ± 19.27

84.82 ± 19.41

0.941

 Ambulate Independently

315 (98.1)

276 (89.3)

< 0.001*^a

297 (97.1)

361 (94.8)

0.038*^a

 Ambulate with Assistance

2 (0.6)

9 (2.9)

7 (2.3)

5 (1.3)

 Unable to Ambulate

2 (0.6)

10 (3.2)

1 (0.3)

7 (1.8)

 Not Documented

2 (0.6)

14 (4.5)

1 (0.3)

8 (2.1)

 Ambulate Independently

93 (29.0)

17 (5.5)

< 0.001*^a

95 (31.0)

24 (6.3)

< 0.001*^a

 Ambulate with Assistance

98 (30.5)

50 (16.2)

104 (34.0)

52 (13.6)

 Unable to Ambulate

18 (5.6)

198 (64.1)

21 (6.9)

238 (62.5)

 Not Documented

112 (34.9)

44 (14.2)

86 (28.1)

67 (17.6)

 Ambulate Independently

224 (69.8)

86 (27.8)

< 0.001*^a

217 (70.9)

128 (33.6)

< 0.001*^a

 Ambulate with Assistance

76 (23.7)

98 (31.7)

78 (25.5)

100 (26.2)

 Unable to Ambulate

12 (3.7)

88 (28.5)

9 (2.9)

111 (29.1)

 Not Documented

1 (0.3)

1 (0.3)

0 (0.0)

2 (0.5)

 Emergency Department

216 (67.3)

261 (84.5)

< 0.001*^a

221 (72.7)

310 (82.2)

0.003*^a

 Direct Admission

105 (32.7)

48 (15.5)

83 (27.3)

67 (17.8)

 Improved Ambulation: No (%)

177 (56.5)

151 (55.3)

0.763

162 (53.3)

193 (56.5)

0.399