Early and sustained survival benefit associated with statin therapy at the time of percutaneous coronary intervention

Background - Long-term administration of statin therapy has been shown to reduce major coronary events and cardiac mortality within randomized clinical trials. In addition to lowering lipids, statins favorably affect platelet adhesion, thrombosis, endothelial function, inflammation, and plaque stability, which may potentially improve outcome after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Therefore, we hypothesized that statin therapy has an early beneficial effect among patients undergoing PCI. Methods and Results - Each year from 1993 to 1999, we prospectively collected data among the first 1000 patients undergoing PCI. Patients who presented with acute or recent myocardial infarction or cardiogenic shock were excluded from the analysis. Baseline, procedural, and 6-month data of statin-treated and non-statin treated patients were compared. Propensity score and multivariate survival analysis were used to adjust for heterogeneity between the two groups. Of 5052 patients who completed follow-up, 26.5% were treated with statin at the time of the procedure. Statin therapy was associated with a mortality reduction at 30 days (0.8% versus 1.5%; hazard ratio, 0.53; P=0.048) and at 6 months (2.4% versus 3.6%; hazard ratio, 0.67; P=0.046). After adjusting for the propensity to receive statin therapy before the procedure and other confounders, statin therapy remained an independent predictor for survival at 6 months after coronary intervention (hazard ratio, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.42 to 0.99; P=0.045). Conclusions - In this large study cohort, statin therapy among PCI patients seems to be associated with a significant mortality advantage at early and intermediate-term follow-up.