Statin Therapy is Associated with Improved Clinical Outcomes in Patients Undergoing Emergency Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Purpose: Previous studies have suggested that the use of statins after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is associated with better clinical outcomes. However, lipid-lowering treatment with statins is a neglected therapeutic approach in patients undergoing PCI in Taiwan. This study investigated the current status of statin use and the effect of statin treatment on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) undergoing emergency PCI. Methods: Two hundred and forty patients (aged 61±13 years, M/F=192/48) with AMI were enrolled. All of them underwent emergency coronary angiography and PCI. Patients were classified into 2 groups, those who were receiving continuous statin therapy (n=149, 62%) and those who were not (n=91, 38%). Cox proportional hazards model was performed to determine if continuous statin therapy was independently associated with a reduction in the risk of adverse clinical outcomes. Results: Our data demonstrated that continuous statin therapy was independently associated with a significant reduction (~35%) in the risk of adverse events (55% versus 36%; P=0.019). The adjusted odds ratio for the development of adverse events in patients receiving continuous statin therapy compared with patients who were not was 0.60 (95% CI, 0.41 to 0.90, P=0.012). Conclusion: Continuous statin therapy may reduce the risk of adverse clinical outcomes after PCI for AMI patients. However, the low use of statins (62%) in the study patients indicates that there is substantial room for improvement in implementation of statin therapy in AMI patients undergoing PCI.