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Statins may benefit patients with clot-related diseases
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Statin use reduced a patient’s risk for developing deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in a meta-analysis involving more than 900,000 men and women.
Vanjul Agarwal, MBBS, a resident at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, Conn., presented the study results at a poster presentation during the American Thoracic Society 2010 International Conference in New Orleans.
“Statins have been found to have anti-inflammatory properties,” Agarwal said in a press release. “Since thrombus formation involves inflammation, statins may reduce venous thrombus formation and, thus, lower the odds of developing pulmonary embolism and DVT.”
Agarwal and colleagues from several other U.S. sites selected nine observational studies and one randomized controlled clinical trial — the JUPITER trial — using the Medline, Cochrane and Scopus databases to determine the effect of statins on the incidence of venous thromboembolism.
They found that statin use reduced a patient’s odds for developing VTE (adjusted OR=0.68; 95% CI, 0.54-0.86; n=845,445), including DVT (adjusted OR=0.59; 95% CI, 0.43-0.82; n=234,730) and pulmonary embolism (adjusted OR=0.7; 95% CI, 0.53-0.94; n=108,868).
“Patients at high risk for developing pulmonary embolism or DVT may be prescribed statins prophylactically,” Agarwal said. “In these patients, regular use of statins could significantly reduce the incidence of pulmonary embolism and DVT.”
She said future randomized controlled trials may help determine the course of statin therapy for patients at most risk for developing VTE.
For more information:
- Agarwal V. #4499. Presented at: American Thoracic Society 2010 International Conference; May 14-19, 2010; New Orleans.
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