Statins Reduce The Rate Of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) Rupture

Main Category: Statins
Also Included In: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Article Date: 24 Nov 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Much has been written about the beneficial effects of statins for vascular patients, including increased longevity and lower risks of operative morbidity and mortality. In addition, small observational studies have suggested that statins can significantly reduce the growth rate of small AAA.

For these reasons, Janet T. Powell, M.D., Ph.D., Professor at Imperial College and Honorary Consultant for United Healthcare in London, used baseline statin therapy as a confounder for studies of aneurysm rupture in the EVAR 2 trial and as a prognostic indicator of long-term survival in the EVAR-1 trial. Surprisingly, after adjustment for other baseline covariates, statin therapy did not appear to increase survival at 4 years in the EVAR 1 trial. However in EVAR 2 patients taking statins at baseline appeared to have about half the rupture risk compared to those not taking statins.

Given these emerging findings about the benefits of statins in patients with AAA, including the two-fold reduction in rupture risk, Dr. Powell asserted that there is no excuse for not prescribing statins to all AAA patients.

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Source
Pauline T. Mayer
http://www. ptmhcm.com