(Circulation. 2002;105:e9073.)
© 2002 American Heart Association, Inc.
Cardiovascular News
Circulation Newswriter
New Roles for Statins
Treatment with statins seems to have reduced death rates at 30 days and at 6 months for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), according to researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, in a report in this week’s Circulation (Circulation. 2002;105:691–696).
The authors, led by Albert W. Chan, MD, MS, of the Section of Interventional Cardiology, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, noted in their report that long-term administration of statin therapy had been shown to reduce major coronary events and mortality in randomized clinical trials, and that not only had statin therapy been associated with lipid lowering, but it also had been shown to have a favorable effect on platelet adhesion, thrombosis, endothelial function, inflammation, and plaque stability. Because all of those factors could affect the course of PCI, the authors hypothesized that statin therapy also could have a favorable effect on the interventional procedure because coronary angioplasty and stent placement can produce platelet activation, clotting, and inflammation.
During a 7-year period from 1993 to 1999, the authors prospectively collected data on the first 1000 patients undergoing PCI at the institution, excluding those who were admitted with an acute or recent myocardial infarction (MI) or cardiogenic shock. They compared the data on statin-treated and non–statin-treated patients at baseline, during the procedure, and at 6 months. Of the 5052 patients for whom follow-up was completed, 26.5% received a statin at the time of the procedure.
In the analysis, patients who received statins were less likely to die at 30 days