Intensity of statin therapy in relation to myocardial ischemia, troponin T release, and clinical cardiac outcome in patients undergoing major vascular surgery

Objectives This study sought to examine whether higher statin doses and lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol are associated with improved cardiac outcome in vascular surgery patients. Background Statins may have cardioprotective effects during major vascular surgery. Methods In a prospective study of 359 vascular surgery patients, statin dose and cholesterol levels were recorded preoperatively. Myocardial ischemia and heart rate variability were assessed by 72-h 12-lead electrocardiography starting 1 day before to 2 days after surgery. Troponin T was measured on postoperative day 1, 3, 7, and before discharge. Cardiac events included cardiac death or nonfatal Q-wave myocardial infarction at 30 days and follow-up (mean 2.3 years). Results Perioperative myocardial ischemia, troponin T release, 30-day events, and late cardiac events occurred in 29%, 23%, 4%, and 18%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, lower LDL cholesterol (per 10 mg/dl) correlated with lower myocardial ischemia (odds ratio [OR] 0.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.80 to 0.95), troponin T release (OR 0.89, 95% Cl 0.82 to 0.96), and 30-day (OR 0.89, 95% Cl 0.78 to 1.00) and late cardiac events (hazard ratio 0.91, 95% CI 0.84 to 0.96). Higher statin doses (per 10% of maximum recommended dose) correlated with lower myocardial ischemia (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.93), troponin T release (OR 0.84, 95% Cl 0.76 to 0.93), and 30-day (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.40 to 0.96) and late cardiac events (hazard ratio 0.76, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.89), even after adjusting for LDL cholesterol. Significantly higher perioperative heart rate variability was observed in patients with higher statin doses. Conclusions Higher statin doses and lower LDL cholesterol correlate with lower perioperative myocardial ischemia, perioperative troponin T release, and 30-day and late cardiac events in major vascular surgery.