Impact of early statin initiation on secondary prevention in Japanese patients with coronary artery disease

Background: The effect of early statin initiation on secondary prevention remains uncertain in unselected Japanese populations with coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: We investigated the mortality and morbidity in CAD patients according to presence or absence of statins within 3 months after the diagnosis of CAD in the Shinken Database cohort study. The primary endpoint was all-cause mortality. Results: Data were available on 789 Japanese patients with CAD (male 78.8%). Among those, 351 patients (44.5%) received a statin. The mean (SD) baseline low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol levels were 113.6 (35.7) mg/dL in the statin group and 113.6 (26.4) mg/dL in the non-statin group (p= 0.992). Unadjusted 2-year survival in patients with or without statins was 98.4% and 92.1%, respectively (p<0.001). Among a prespecified subgroup of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (n= 238 with statins and n= 183 without statins), a consistent effect of statins on 2-year survival was observed (98.5% and 90.9%, respectively, p<0.001). However, there was no significant difference in 2-year target lesion revascularization-free survival (77.9% in statins versus 73.7% in non-statins, respectively, p= 0.298). The age- and gender-adjusted survival in the PCI subgroup was significantly higher in the statin group [hazard ratio (HR) 0.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.095-0.913] compared to non-statin. Multivariate analysis showed statins significantly reduced mortality (HR 0.27, 95%CI 0.078-0.944), but not revascularization (HR 0.91, 95%CI 0.589-1.406). Conclusions: This study suggested that statin therapy initiated early after the diagnosis of CAD can decrease the risk of fatal events in Japanese CAD patients.