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The role of statins in chronic heart failure

Mouhannad M Sadek1, Taleen Haddad, Haissam Haddad

  • 1Division of Cardiology, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Current Opinion in Cardiology
|February 20, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Statins show no benefit for heart failure patients. Recent studies indicate no improvement in outcomes, even with reduced cholesterol, questioning their use in symptomatic heart failure.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Heart failure (HF) is a complex clinical syndrome.
  • Statins are widely used for cardiovascular disease prevention.
  • The role of statins in HF management remains controversial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review current evidence on statin use in heart failure.
  • To discuss unresolved questions and recent findings.

Main Methods:

  • Review of retrospective trials and post-hoc analyses.
  • Analysis of recent clinical trial data (GISSI-HF, CORONA).

Main Results:

  • Recent trials (GISSI-HF, CORONA) found no significant effect of statins on outcomes in heart failure patients.
  • Statins effectively reduced low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP).

Conclusions:

  • Current evidence for statins in HF is largely based on non-prospective studies.
  • No evidence supports initiating statin therapy in symptomatic New York Heart Association (NYHA) II-IV heart failure.
Abstract

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