ATLANTA—Atorvastatin has no significant effect on a combined endpoint of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke among diabetic patients on hemodialysis (HD), according to a German study presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s Kidney Week 2013 meeting. However, researchers found a significant 17% relative risk reduction in all cardiovascular events combined.
As part of the German Diabetes Dialysis (4D) Study, Vera Krane, MD, of the University of Würzberg in Germany, and colleagues studied 1,255 type 2 diabetes patients on HD who were randomly prescribed either 20 mg atorvastatin daily or a placebo. Patients had a median follow-up of four years.
After 11.5 years of follow-up in both groups, 90% of the patients had died. Post-trial statin use and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels were similar in both groups.
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The investigators found no significant effect of atorvastatin on fatal infection or all-cause mortality. Patients who were given atorvastatin during the in-trial period had an average reduction in LDL cholesterol levels by 42%.
