Lipitor does not prevent narrowing in heart valve

08 Jun 2005 21:00:14 GMT
Source: Reuters

BOSTON, June 8 (Reuters) - The popular cholesterol-reducing drug
Lipitor made by Pfizer <PFE.N> does not prevent obstruction of the
heart valve that leads to the aorta, the body's largest artery,
according to recent findings published in the New England Journal of
Medicine.

In a study conducted to determine whether the drug, also known under
its generic name atorvastatin, did more than just reduce cholesterol,
doctors found that Lipitor failed to prevent obstructions that can keep

the heart from pumping blood adequately.

The condition, known as calcified aortic stenosis, occurs when a key
heart valve narrows or becomes blocked, preventing the heart from
pumping blood properly and can manifest itself in spite of reductions
of cholesterol levels, according to the study.

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COMMENT:

Calcification relates to inflammation, and there had been prior
observational studies to suggest that statins *might* modify this
disease, but nothing prospective and randomized. That's why these
studies are done. It's too bad-- this is an example of why we know more
about drugs than nutrients.  In animals models of ectopic
calcification, both magnesium and vitamin K are active in preventing
some of it. So a study like this one, it would have been nice to use
NIH money compare the statin against one or the other nutrient, as well
as control. In case the statin didn't work. Which is what happened.

Ital Heart J. 2005 Feb;6(2):119-24.

Progression of aortic valve sclerosis and aortic valve stenosis: what
is the
role of statin treatment?

Antonini-Canterin F, Popescu BA, Huang G, Korcova-Miertusova R, Rivaben
D,
Faggiano P, Pavan D, Piazza R, Bolis A, Ciavattone A, Ruggiero A,
Nicolosi GL.

S Maria degli Angeli Hospital, Pordenone, Italy.
cardiologia@aopn.fvg.it

BACKGROUND: It has recently been suggested that statins could slow the
progression of aortic stenosis, but this hypothesis has not been
validated in
large series. Moreover, there is little information about the role of
statin
treatment in patients with aortic valve sclerosis. METHODS: From our
database
1988--2002, we retrospectively identified 1136 consecutive patients
with aortic
valve sclerosis (peak aortic velocity [Vmax] > 1.5 and < 2 m/s), or
mild to
moderate aortic stenosis (Vmax 2.0-3.9 m/s) and with > or = 2
echocardiographic
studies > or = 6 months apart; 121 (11 %) were treated with statins. As
a
control group we randomly selected 121 age-gender-matched patients not
treated
with statins, with similar initial Vmax. RESULTS: The mean follow-up
duration
was 54+/-34 months in the statin group, and 50+/-33 months in controls
(p =
0.35). There were no differences between statin-treated patients and
controls
with respect to age, gender, and prevalence of hypertension. More
patients in
the statin group had documented hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, or had
proven
coronary artery disease. Overall, the rate of change of Vmax was not
different
between statin-treated patients and controls (0.13+/-0.24 vs
0.14+/-0.19
m/s/year, p = 0.72). However, in the subgroup of patients with aortic
valve
sclerosis (n = 52, 26 statin-treated, 26 controls), the rate of change
of Vmax
was significantly lower in statin-treated patients (0.04+/-0.04 vs
0.08+/-0.06
m/s/year, p = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS: The results of our retrospective
study show
that statins could be beneficial in retarding the progression of
valvular aortic
sclerosis to aortic stenosis. This suggests that statins retard the
progression
of aortic valve lesion in its early stage, a finding that may have
important
implications in the management of this very common disease.

PMID: 15819504 [PubMed - in process]