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Statin therapy reduces growth of abdominal aortic aneurysms
Wassef Karrowni1, Saadeddine Dughman, Georges P Hajj
1Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
Background:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of statins on the growth of small abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs).
Methods:
We retrospectively examined AAA diameter in 211 patients who had undergone serial imaging surveillance.
Results:
Patients treated with and without statins were similar regarding age, initial aneurysm size, diagnosis of diabetes and hypertension, and smoking history. Patients receiving statins had a decreased aneurysm growth rate compared with those patients not receiving statins (0.9 mm/y [interquartile range, -1.0 to +1.0] vs 3.2 mm/y [interquartile range, 2.0-4.9], P < 0.0001). This difference in the rate of growth was maintained after adjusting for potential confounding factors.
Conclusions:
To date, this is the one of the largest retrospective studies demonstrating an association between statin use and decreased growth rate of AAA.
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