VTE risk reduction with statins may be linked to LDL-C decrease

Takeaway

• In patients undergoing statin treatment, reduction of venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk was partially related to low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) reduction.

Why this matters

• Few studies have established an inverse linear relationship between LDL-C reduction and the risk for arterial thrombosis.
• Very few randomised controlled trials have compared the outcomes of various statins.

Study design

• Meta-analysis of 30 randomised controlled trials including 159,058 participants who were treated with either statins or placebo between March 1, 2012 and November 29, 2017.
• Statins used were atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin, fluvastatin and lovastatin.
• Funding: National Institute for Health Research.

Key results

• The mean age of the participants was 63.6 years and median follow-up duration was 3.9 years.
• Significantly lower risk for VTE was seen in patients treated with rosuvastatin 10 mg (OR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.37-0.83) and 20 mg (0.57; 0.37-0.86), and for atorvastatin 10 mg (0.66; 0.47-0.94).
• Rosuvastatin showed significantly higher VTE risk reduction (OR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.31-0.80) vs pravastatin, atorvastatin and simvastatin.
• Each 10% reduction in LDL-C was associated with 14.4% reduction in VTE risk (P=.047), and every 1 mmol/L reduction in LDL-C was associated with 37.3% reduction in VTE risk.

Limitations

• Risk for bias.