Statin Therapy May Be Associated With Lower Mortality in Patients With Diastolic Heart Failure

BACKGROUND: No therapy has been shown to improve survival in heart failure (HF) with a normal ejection fraction (EF). There are plausible reasons to hypothesize that statins may be of benefit in HF with a normal EF. METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated 137 patients with HF and an EF > or =0.50. The effect of treatment received at study entry on survival was determined. During a follow-up of 21+/-12 months, 20 deaths were observed. Treatment with an ACE inhibitor or receptor blocker, beta-blocker, or calcium blocker had no significant effect on survival. In contrast, treatment with a statin was associated with a substantial improvement in survival (relative risk of death 95% CI 0.22 0.07 to 0.64; P=0.006). Patients receiving statins had higher baseline LDL cholesterol than those not receiving statins (153+/-45 versus 98+/-33 mg/dL, P<0.01). After statin therapy, LDL cholesterol levels fell to a similar level (101+/-32 mg/dL) as in patients not receiving statins (98+/-33 mg/dL). After adjustment for differences in baseline clinical variables between groups (hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, and serum creatinine), statin therapy was associated with lower mortality (adjusted relative risk of death 95% CI 0.20 0.06 to 0.62; P=0.005). Similarly, after propensity matching, statin therapy was associated with improved survival (log-rank 6.12; P=0.013) and a trend toward improved survival without cardiovascular hospitalization (log-rank 3.02; P=0.082). CONCLUSIONS: Statin therapy may be associated with improved survival in patients with HF and a normal EF.