CHICAGO — Statin therapy is associated with reduced mortality even in patients with very low baseline LDL cholesterol levels—below 60 mg/dL, Dr. Nicholas J. Leeper reported at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association.
He presented an observational study involving 4,295 patients followed for a mean of 724 days after presenting with an LDL cholesterol level below 60 mg/dL. Of these patients, 47% had diabetes, 45% had known ischemic heart disease, and 19% had a prior malignancy, which can cause a marked reduction in LDL.
Statin therapy was prescribed for 60% of patients in the follow-up period, during which there were 510 deaths. After adjustment for age, liver and renal function, and use of other medications, statin therapy was associated with a 34% reduction in the relative risk of mortality. Among patients with no history of ischemic heart disease, the mortality reduction was 42%.
Moreover, the survival benefit associated with statin therapy also extended to the 623 patients with an extremely low baseline LDL of less than 40 mg/dL. In this group of patients, statin users had a 49% reduction in mortality, continued Dr. Leeper of Stanford (Calif.) University.
No increase in cancer or rhabdomyolysis was seen with statin therapy in this large cohort of patients with LDL below 60 mg/dL.