Statins improve outcome in isolated heart valve operations: a propensity score analysis of 3,217 patients

Whether statins can improve postoperative outcome in patients without coronary artery disease undergoing heart valve operations was assessed.

Data for 3,217 patients undergoing isolated valve procedures at 2 institutions between May 2003 and May 2009 were reviewed. Clinical follow-up was completed. Two propensity-matched cohorts of 1,104 patients each were identified. Multivariable regression and Kaplan-Meyer survival analysis were performed to investigate risk factors correlated with death, stroke, myocardial infarction, and cardiac arrhythmias.

The overall 30-day mortality rate was 2.7%, and 2,096 of 2,149 hospital survivors were alive at a median follow-up of 27 months. Preoperative statin treatment was independently associated with a significant reduction in the risk of hospital death (odds ratio [OR], 0.48; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.32 to 0.89; p=0.001), postoperative cardiac arrhythmias (OR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.62 to 0.93; p<0.006), and stroke (OR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.32 to 0.92; p=0.02) but was not independently associated with a reduced risk of postoperative myocardial infarction. At follow-up, Kaplan-Meyer survival analysis showed statistically significant lower rates of mortality (χ2, 4.41; hazard ratio [HR], 1.59; 95% CI, 1.13 to 2.27; p=0.03), stroke (χ2, 11.42; HR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.37 to 3.27; p=0.0007), cardiac arrhythmias (χ2, 19.9; HR, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.81 to 2.72; p<0.0001), and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (χ2, 3.74; HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 0.99 to 1.74; p=0.05) in patients receiving statin treatment. No statistically significant difference was found between groups in myocardial infarction incidence at follow-up.

Statin therapy is associated with a lower rate of adverse cardiovascular events after isolated heart valve operations.