Beneficial effects of statins after percutaneous coronary intervention

Factors associated with health-related quality of life in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention: Thai PCI registry

Background

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been shown to improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). The objectives of this study were to assess the changes in HRQoL and factors influencing these changes in CAD patients after undergoing PCI.

Methods

Data from a nationwide PCI registry across 39 hospitals in Thailand were collected in 2018-2019, including baseline characteristics, comorbid diseases, angiographic CAD severity, procedural details, and type of health insurance. HRQoL, as measured by utility scores, was determined in all patients using the Thai version of EQ-5D-5l at admission, discharge, and 6 and 12 months after discharge. The effects of time after PCI procedure and various factors on mean utility scores were assessed using a mixed-effect linear regression model.

Results

A total of 19,701 patients were included in the analysis; they had a mean age of 64.2 ± 11.7 years and were predominantly (69.1%) male. Following PCI, the mean utility scores increased from 66.6 ± 19.6 at admission to 81.9 ± 13.8 at discharge, and remained stable at 6 and 12 months (86.1 ± 12.3 and 88.0 ± 11.7, respectively). After adjusting for potential confounding variables, several factors were found to be independently associated with improved HRQoL, including angiographic success, male gender, overweight status, dyslipidemia, and radial access. Six other factors were associated with less improved HRQoLs, including cardiogenic shock/IABP support, old age, CKD, clinical presentation (STEMI and NSTEMI), prior cerebrovascular disease, and heart failure. There were no associations of CAD severity and procedural details with HRQoL. No differences were found related to type of health insurance, except that patients who were uninsured or self-pay tended to have less improvement in HRQoL.

Conclusion

HRQoL improved significantly after PCI in these subjects, as observed through 1 year of follow-up. Identifying the factors influencing these improvements may assist clinicians in tailoring patient interventions to optimise quality of life after PCI.

Statin Therapy and the Incidence of Thromboembolism and Vascular Events Following Liver Transplantation

Statin therapy may reduce the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), which may impact solid organ transplant outcomes. We evaluated the incidence of VTE and other complications after liver transplantation stratified by hyperlipidemia status and statin use using a retrospective cohort study approach. We reviewed all primary orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) records from January 2014 to December 2019 from our center. Intraoperative deaths were excluded. Recipient, donor clinical and demographic data were collected. We developed risk-adjusted models to assess the effect of statin use on the occurrence of VTE, hepatic artery complications (HACs), graft failure, and death, accounting for clinical covariates and competing risks. A total of 672 OLT recipients were included in the analysis. Of this cohort, 11.9% (n = 80) received statin therapy. A total of 47 patients (7.0%) had VTE events. HACs occurred in 40 patients (6.0%). A total of 42 (6.1%) patients experienced graft loss, whereas 9.1% (n = 61) of the cohort died during the study interval. Eighty OLT recipients (29.8%) were treated with statins. In the statin treated group, 0% of patients had VTE versus 7.9% of those not on statins (P = 0.02). HACs were identified in 1.2% of the statin group and 6.8% of the nonstatin group. Untreated hyperlipidemia was associated with a 2.1-fold higher risk of HACs versus patients with no hyperlipidemia status (P = 0.05). Statin therapy was associated with significantly better risk-adjusted thromboembolic event-free survival (absence of VTE, cerebrovascular accident, myocardial infarction, HACs, and death); hazard ratio, 2.7; P = 0.01. These data indicate that statin therapy is correlated with a lower rate of VTE and HACs after liver transplantation.

Effect of statin treatment in patients with acute myocardial infarction with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus: A retrospective observational registry study

ABSTRACT

Studies comparing long-term clinical outcomes of statin treatment between acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients with prediabetes and those with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) after successful percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with the newer-generation drug-eluting stents (DESs) are limited. We compared 2-year clinical outcomes between these patients.A total of 11,962 AMI patients were classified as statin users (n = 10,243) and statin nonusers (n = 1719). Thereafter, statin users and nonusers were further divided into the normoglycemia, prediabetes, and T2DM groups. The major outcome was the occurrence of major adverse cardiac event (MACE) defined as all-cause death, recurrent myocardial infarction (Re-MI), or any repeat coronary revascularization.After statin treatment, the cumulative incidences of MACE (P = .314), all-cause death, cardiac death (CD), Re-MI, and any repeat revascularization were similar between the prediabetes and T2DM groups. However, the cumulative incidences of MACE (P = .025) and all-cause death (P = .038) in the prediabetes group and those of MACE (P = .001), all-cause death (P = .009), and CD (P = .048) in the T2DM group were significantly higher than those in the normoglycemia group. Moreover, in all the 3 glycemic groups, the cumulative incidences of MACE, all-cause death, and CD were significantly higher among statin nonusers than among statin users.This study revealed that AMI patients with prediabetes had worse clinical outcomes than those with normoglycemia and comparable to those with T2DM after 2-year statin treatment. However, further studies are warranted to confirm the current findings.

Different Statin Effects of ST-elevation Versus Non-ST-Elevation Acute Myocardial Infarction After Stent Implantation

BACKGROUND

Intensive statin therapy reduces cardiovascular events in acute coronary syndrome. The data concerning the long-term clinical impacts of statin therapy between ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-STEMI (NSTEMI) after drug-eluting stent implantation are limited. We compared the 2-year clinical outcomes between these 2 groups after statin therapy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 30,616 Korean patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were enrolled. Among them, 13,686 patients were classified as group A (STEMI statin user), 3,824 patients were as group B (STEMI statin nonuser), 10,398 patients were as group C (NSTEMI statin user), and 2,708 patients were as group D (NSTEMI statin nonuser). The major clinical endpoint was the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) defined as all-cause death, recurrent myocardial infarction (re-MI), and any repeat revascularization during a 2-year follow-up period.

RESULTS

After adjustment, the cumulative risks of MACE (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.112 [1.002-1.235]; P = 0.047), all-cause death (aHR = 1.271 [1.054-1.532]; P = 0.012), and target vessel revascularization (TVR, aHR = 1.262 [1.049-1.518]; P = 0.014) in group C were significantly higher than group A. The cumulative risks of MACE, all-cause death, and cardiac death of the statin nonuser group (groups B and D) were significantly higher compared with statin user group (groups A and C).

CONCLUSIONS

Statin therapy was more effective in reducing the cumulative risks of MACE, all-cause death, and TVR in the STEMI group than NSTEMI group in Korean patients with AMI after successful drug-eluting stent implantation.

Observational Prospective study to esTIMAte the rates of outcomes in patients undergoing PCI with drug-eluting stent implantation who take statins -follow-up (OPTIMA II)

OBJECTIVE

The OPTIMA II study sought to evaluate rates of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) during the long-term follow-up of chronic statin users who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with implantation of a drug-eluting stent (DES).

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

OPTIMA II was a non-interventional, observational study conducted at a single center in the Russian Federation. Included patients were aged ≥18 years with stable angina who had received long-term (≥1 month) statin therapy prior to elective PCI with DES implantation and who had participated in the original OPTIMA study. Patients received treatment for stable angina after PCI as per routine study site clinical practice. Study data were collected from patient medical records and a routine visit 4 years after PCI.

CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT02099565.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Rate of MACCEs 4 years after PCI.

RESULTS

Overall, 543 patients agreed to participate in the study (90.2% of patients in the original OPTIMA study). The mean (± standard deviation [SD]) duration of follow-up from the date of PCI to data collection was 4.42 ± 0.58 (range: 0.28-5.56) years. The frequency of MACCEs (including data in patients who died) was 30.8% (95% confidence interval: 27.0-34.7); half of MACCEs occurred in the first year of follow-up. After PCI, the majority of patients had no clinical signs of angina. Overall, 24.3% of patients discontinued statin intake in the 4 years after PCI. Only 7.7% of patients achieved a low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol goal of <1.8 mmol/L. Key limitations of this study related to its observational nature; for example, the sample size was small, the clinical results were derived from outpatients and hospitalized medical records, only one follow-up visit was performed at the end of the study (after 4 years' follow-up), only depersonalized medical information was made available for statistical analysis, and adherence to statin treatment was evaluated on the basis of patient questionnaire.

CONCLUSIONS

Long-term follow-up of patients who underwent PCI with DES implantation demonstrated MACCEs in nearly one-third of patients, which is comparable to data from other studies. PCI was associated with relief from angina or minimal angina frequency, but compliance with statin therapy and the achievement of LDL cholesterol targets 4 years after PCI were suboptimal.

Bias in observational studies of prevalent users: lessons for comparative effectiveness research from a meta-analysis of statins

Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are usually the preferred strategy with which to generate evidence of comparative effectiveness, but conducting an RCT is not always feasible. Though observational studies and RCTs often provide comparable estimates, the questioning of observational analyses has recently intensified because of randomized-observational discrepancies regarding the effect of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy on coronary heart disease. Reanalyses of observational data that excluded prevalent users of hormone replacement therapy led to attenuated discrepancies, which begs the question of whether exclusion of prevalent users should be generally recommended. In the current study, the authors evaluated the effect of excluding prevalent users of statins in a meta-analysis of observational studies of persons with cardiovascular disease. The pooled, multivariate-adjusted mortality hazard ratio for statin use was 0.77 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.65, 0.91) in 4 studies that compared incident users with nonusers, 0.70 (95% CI: 0.64, 0.78) in 13 studies that compared a combination of prevalent and incident users with nonusers, and 0.54 (95% CI: 0.45, 0.66) in 13 studies that compared prevalent users with nonusers. The corresponding hazard ratio from 18 RCTs was 0.84 (95% CI: 0.77, 0.91). It appears that the greater the proportion of prevalent statin users in observational studies, the larger the discrepancy between observational and randomized estimates.

Stents and statins: history, clinical outcomes and mechanisms

The 1980s witnessed the inception of both stents and 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins). While they evolved separately, it was soon realized that they each offered a unique and powerful mechanism for targeting the major offender in cardiovascular disease, namely atherosclerosis. Coincidentally, the first statin was approved by the US FDA in 1987, the same year that the coronary stent was conceived. Since that time, stents and statins have revolutionized the field of cardiovascular medicine and their paths have been intertwined. Several pivotal randomized clinical trials have established statins as an effective therapy for improving clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) among patients presenting with stable coronary artery disease and acute coronary syndromes. In addition, chronic statin therapy and acute loading of statins prior to PCI has consistently been shown to limit periprocedural myocardial necrosis. The mechanism for improved clinical outcomes with statins has clearly been associated with statin-induced reductions in LDL. In addition, statins may also exert 'pleiotropic' effects, independent of LDL lowering, that might counteract the inflammatory and prothrombotic mileu created with PCI. This article provides a brief historical perspective of the evolution of the use of statins and stents in patients with coronary artery disease, an evaluation of the available clinical data supporting the use of statins in patients undergoing PCI across a wide spectrum of clinical scenarios, and a discussion of the potential mechanisms of the benefit of statins in these patients.

Differential effects of post-dilation after stent deployment in patients presenting with and without acute myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND

In the practice of percutaneous coronary intervention, post-dilation often is performed after stent deployment to improve stent expansion. However, aggressive mechanical expansion is a risk factor of distal embolization and microvascular injury, especially for patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Few studies have investigated the effects of post-dilation on medium-term clinical outcomes.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Patients enrolled in the multicenter NHLBI Dynamic Registry between 2001 and 2006 were evaluated. Patients who were treated with ≥ 1 stent were studied. Patients with cardiogenic shock or history of coronary artery bypass graft surgery were excluded. Patients were followed up to 1 year. Because of the significant statistical interaction (P = .02) between post-dilation and AMI status on the hazard of death/myocardial infarction (MI), post-dilation effects were estimated separately for patients who did and did not present with an AMI. Among the 1,358 patients who presented with an AMI, post-dilation was associated with a significantly higher risk of death/MI (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.78, 95% CI 1.12-2.83, P = .01), not associated with the risk of repeat revascularization (HR = 1.15, 95% CI 0.81-1.62, P = .43). Among the 3,001 patients who did not present with AMI, post-dilation was not associated with risks of death/MI (HR = 1.08, 95% CI 0.77-1.50, P = .67) or repeat revascularization (HR = 1.17, 95% CI 0.93-1.47, P = .19). Similar effects were observed for the restricted analysis with additional adjustment for lesion characteristics among the 1,039 AMI patients and 2,179 non-AMI patients with a single lesion treated.

CONCLUSIONS

Stent post-dilation is associated with an increased risk of death/MI in AMI patients but not in non-AMI patients. Further investigation is warranted.

Epidemiology and natural history of atherosclerotic renovascular disease

Atheromatous renovascular disease (ARVD) is increasingly suspected and diagnosed, and it commonly presents to several different clinical specialties. In this review, the epidemiology, risk factors, comorbid disease associations, natural history, and prognosis of ARVD is described. Atheromatous renovascular disease is strongly associated with macrovascular pathology in other important vascular beds, especially the coronary, aortoiliac and iliofemoral circulations, and also with structural and functional heart disease. These clinicopathologic relationships contribute to the high morbidity and mortality associated with the condition. Understanding of the natural history of renal artery stenosis may enable intensified treatment strategies to reduce associated risk and improve patient prognosis.

Statins in prevention of repeat revascularization after percutaneous coronary intervention--a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

Recent prospective cohort studies have shown that patients discharged on statins after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are at lower risks of repeat revascularization and mortality when compared to those not on statins after discharge. However, few randomized clinical trials among post-PCI patients confirmed these beneficial effects. It is needed to evaluate the effects of post-procedural statin therapy on individual clinical outcomes to facilitate the further investigation on identifying the underlying mechanism(s). A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials was conducted to examine the effects of statin therapy initiated after coronary angioplasty on repeat revascularization, all-cause mortality and myocardial infarction (MI). From relevant reports on Medline (from inception to October 2009), six randomized clinical trials comprising 2979 patients were included. Relative risks were evaluated for pooled data via random effect models. Compared with controls, post-PCI statin therapy was associated with a significantly decreased risk of repeat revascularization (risk ratio (RR)=0.73, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.55-0.98, p=0.04), nonsignificantly decreased risks of all-cause mortality (RR=0.88, 95% CI, 0.35-2.21, p=0.79), MI (RR=0.76, 95% CI, 0.49-1.18, p=0.23), and target lesion or target vessel revascularization (RR=0.58, 95% CI, 0.24-1.39, p=0.22). In conclusion, statin therapy after PCI can reduce the risk of repeat revascularization. Further investigation is needed to identify the underlying mechanism(s).