Can stronger cholesterol drugs silence the threat of stroke?

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Adults aged 19 to 80 years at the time of screening 2. Presence of ≥50% stenosis in at least one major intracranial artery confirmed within 12 months prior to randomization by magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), computed tomography angiography (CTA), or conventional cerebral angiography.(Target vessels include: Middle cerebral artery (M1 or M2 segment), Anterior cerebral artery (A1 or A2 segment), Posterior cerebral artery (P1 or P2 segment), Basilar artery, Vertebral artery (V4 segment)) Stenosis severity must be assessed according to the WASID (Warfarin-Aspirin Symptomatic Intracranial Disease) method 3. Baseline low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) level of 100-190 mg/dL, or current use of lipid-lowering therapy 4. Presence of at least one of the following vascular risk factors: * Hypertension (systolic blood pressure ≥140 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mmHg, or current use of antihypertensive medication) * Diabetes mellitus (fasting plasma glucose ≥126 mg/dL or ongoing antidiabetic treatment) * Current smoking * Family history of premature coronary artery disease (onset age \<55 years in men or \<65 years in women) * Chronic kidney disease (estimated glomerular filtration rate \[eGFR\] \<60 mL/min/1.73 m²) Exclusion Criteria: 1. Cerebrovascular Pathologies * Prior history of symptomatic ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack(TIA) * Previous cerebrovascular interventions, including intracranial or extracranial stenting or carotid endarterectomy * History of non-traumatic intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) * Presence of cerebral aneurysms or arteriovenous malformations (AVM) * Confirmed diagnosis of Moyamoya disease 2. Cardiovascular Comorbidities * Unstable angina pectoris or myocardial infarction (MI) within the preceding 6 months * Advanced heart failure, categorized as NYHA Class III or IV. * Severe valvular heart disease * Atrial fibrillation requiring chronic oral anticoagulation (CHA2DS2-VASc score ≥ 2, or persistent/permanent atrial fibrillation) 3. Contraindications to Lipid-Lowering Therapy * Known hypersensitivity to statins or ezetimibe * History of severe statin-associated muscle symptoms (SAMS), including rhabdomyolysis * Confirmed familial hypercholesterolemia 4. Active hepatic disease within 1 month prior to screening, or serum transaminases (ALT/AST) exceeding 3 times the upper limit of normal (ULN) 5. Type 2 diabetes mellitus requiring long-term insulin therapy, or those with established target organ damage (e.g., diabetic nephropathy, proliferative retinopathy, or clinically significant neuropathy), Type 1 diabetes mellitus with a disease duration of 20 years or more 6. Renal dysfunction, defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) \< 30 mL/min/1.73m² 7. Women who are currently pregnant or breastfeeding 8. Patients currently enrolled in other interventional clinical trials.