Can previous therapy with statin be considered a protective factor in acute coronary syndrome?

Type of funding sources: None.

Statin therapy is nowadays a cornerstone in primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events.

This retrospective observational study intends to characterise the influence of previous therapy with statins on clinical and electrocardiographic presentation of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and on in-hospital morbidity and mortality.

We evaluated a population of 746 patients admitted in a Cardiac Care Intensive Unit diagnosed with ACS (D). We then considered two groups: patients with previous therapy with statins (D1) and patients without it (D2). We documented demographic factors, personal history, clinical and electrocardiographic presentation of ACS, coronary angiography and angioplasty. The following in-hospital complications were defined: heart failure (HF), cardiogenic shock, reinfarction, stroke, major bleeding and need for blood transfusion. In-hospital mortality was compared between both groups.

D1 consisted of 37.5% of the population (N=280). These patients had a higher prevalence of hypertension (90.7% vs 65.4%, p <0.001), diabetes (45.0% vs 27.8%, p <0.001), dyslipidaemia (81.8% vs. 36.6%, p = 0.001), chronic renal failure (18.6% vs 7.6%, p = 0.001), stroke (10.7% vs. 4.5%, p = 0.003), previous myocardial infraction (MI) (45,0% vs 12,6%, p = 0.001) and previous coronary artery bypass graft (13.2% vs. 2.0%, p = 0.001). They also had more frequently smoking habits (37.4% vs 13.9%, p = 0.001). They were less frequently admitted with ST-elevation MI (24.6% vs 49.2%, p = 0.001) and more frequently with non-ST elevation MI (56.1% vs 40, 9%, p = 0.001) and unstable angina (10.7% vs 5.6%, p = 0.02). The rate of coronary angiography was similar, however patients receiving previous statin therapy underwent less angioplasty. During hospitalization, there were no differences in any of the complications considered, nor in in-hospital mortality between the 2 groups.

In patients with ACS, previous therapy with statins seems to influence the presentation of ACS but it does not affect in-hospital morbidity and mortality. An important percentage of patients with diabetes and of those with previous MI or stroke were not on statins therapy as recommended in the European guidelines.