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. 2015 Oct;7(10):1687-90.
doi: 10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2015.10.47.

The use of statins in patients with heart failure: more questions than answers

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The use of statins in patients with heart failure: more questions than answers

Peter C Westman et al. J Thorac Dis. 2015 Oct.

Abstract

The use of statins to treat patients with heart failure (HF) is controversial due to conflicting results from large, prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trials and other smaller studies. A recent comprehensive, well-conducted meta-analysis from Preiss and colleagues sought to determine whether statin therapy had an effect on major HF outcomes such as hospitalization and death. Although the study demonstrated a significant effect of statin therapy on HF hospitalizations, several limitations involving the participant data and nature of statin used in the analyzed trials raise questions about the inferences that can be drawn from the study results.

Keywords: Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors; heart failure (HF); meta-analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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