Reducing the risk for stroke in patients with myocardial infarction: a Myocardial Ischemia Reduction with Aggressive Cholesterol Lowering (MIRACL) substudy.

Morbidity and mortality from cerebrovascular disease remain a major public health problem in the United States. Despite an encouraging decline in case fatality rates between 1989 and 1999, the actual number of stroke-related deaths increased during this period.1 Approximately 600 000 people in the United States suffer an initial or recurrent stroke each year. Beyond the risk of death, the complications arising from cerebrovascular disease present a major personal and economic burden. Further therapies are needed both to reduce the incidence of initial stroke and to improve clinical outcomes after a cerebrovascular accident.