On the use of statins in patients with chronic cardiac insufficiency

: Today, the necessity to use hypolipidemic agents belonging to the group of statins as means of primary and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease (CAD) and its complications is not doubted. The results of numerous large studies conducted in many different countries during the last 10 to 15 years confirm this statement. The appropriateness of statin application to patients with chronic cardiac insufficiency (CCI) is still under discussion, because there are no sufficient data on whether hypolipidemic therapy is able to improve the prognosis in this category of patients. The authors conducted a long-term research into the use of statins in combination with basic combined therapy in patients with CCI complicating the course of CAD. A reverse correlation between the levels of total cholesterol, low-density protein cholesterol, and the degree of CCI severity was demonstrated. Long-term continuous therapy of CCI patients with a combination of medications including statins did not worsen the clinical symptoms. However, hypolipidemic therapy should be administered to CCI patients on a differentiated basis, taking into account the initial state of lipid profile and the severity of the underlying disease.