Simvastatin initiated early after heart transplantation: 8-year prospective experience

Randomized clinical trials have demonstrated that the use of statins in heart transplant patients lowers cholesterol levels and significantly reduces mortality and the development of transplant vasculopathy. The aim of the present study was to test these effects and the safety of statin therapy over...

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Published in:Circulation (New York, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2003-01, Vol.107 (1), p.93-97
Main Authors: WENKE, Klaus, MEISER, Bruno, THIERY, Joachim, NAGEL, Dorothea, VON SCHEIDT, Wolfgang, KROBOT, Karl, STEINBECK, Gerhard, SEIDEL, Dietrich, REICHART, Bruno
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Cholesterol, LDL - blood
Female
Follow-Up Studies
General and cellular metabolism. Vitamins
Graft Rejection - epidemiology
Heart Transplantation - adverse effects
Heart Transplantation - mortality
Heart Transplantation - pathology
Humans
Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors - adverse effects
Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors - therapeutic use
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Simvastatin - adverse effects
Simvastatin - therapeutic use
Survival Rate
Time Factors
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Summary:Randomized clinical trials have demonstrated that the use of statins in heart transplant patients lowers cholesterol levels and significantly reduces mortality and the development of transplant vasculopathy. The aim of the present study was to test these effects and the safety of statin therapy over an 8-year period. In 1991, a prospective, randomized, unmasked study was initiated to compare the efficacy of simvastatin, started on the fourth postoperative day (n=35), with that of dietary therapy alone (n=37). Because of significantly improved survival and a lower incidence of transplant vasculopathy, most patients in both groups received statins as open-label prescriptions after 4 years. After 8 years, the Kaplan-Meier survival rate was 88.6% in the simvastatin group versus 59.5% in the control group (P
ISSN:0009-7322
1524-4539
DOI:10.1161/01.CIR.0000043241.32523.EE