Assessment of arterial stiffness affected by atorvastatin in coronary artery disease using pulse wave velocity

PURPOSE: Several studies have shown arterial stiffness changes associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). Recently, statins were reported to improve arterial stiffness. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of atorvastatin on arterial stiffness in CAD patients using pulse wave velocity (PWV). METHODS: We evaluated 63 patients with hyperlipemia and CAD. Forty-three patients were given 10mg atorvastatin daily and 20 patients were assigned to a low-fat diet. Carotid-femoral PWV (PWV-CF), carotid-radial PWV (PWV-CR) and carotid-distal PWV (PWV-CD) were measured in all patients. RESULTS: Compared with baseline, PWV-CF, PWV-CR and PWV-CD decreased after therapy in the atorvastatin group (13.22+/-3.39 & 11.85+/-2.87; 11.85+/-2.72 & 10.73+/-2.31; and 11.04+/-1.99 & 10.15+/-1.75, P < 0.05). There was no difference in the control group (13.29+/-2.89 & 13.93+/-2.89; 11.52+/-2.25 & 12.31+/-2.22; and 10.46+/-1.86 & 11.15+/-1.85, P > 0.05). After treatment, values of total cholesterol, triglyceride and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol were reduced in the 2 groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrated that atorvastatin can improve arterial stiffness in CAD patients independent of its lipid-lowering properties.