Atorvastatin for Reduction of Myocardial Dysrhythmia after Cardiac Surgery Study

Abstract

Evaluation of: Patti G, Chello M, Candura D et al.: Atorvastatin for Reduction of MYocardial Dysrhythmia After cardiac surgery (ARMYDA-3) study. Circulation 114, 1455–1461 (2006). The Atorvastatin for Reduction of MYocardial Dysrhythmia After cardiac surgery study evaluated the efficacy of atorvastatin 40 mg/day compared with placebo, adminstered 1 week prior to surgery in preventing post-operative atrial fibrillation (AF). The rate of post-operative AF and mean post-operative hospital stay was significantly lower in the atorvastatin group compared with the placebo group. The incidence of the composite end point at 1 month was similar in both groups. This study supports the initiation of atorvastatin in patients undergoing cardiac surgery to reduce the rate of post-operative AF and the duration of hospital stay. Future studies will be required to assess whether this beneficial effect of atorvastatin is demonstrated by all statins and whether it can be extended to the wider population of patients with AF.

Keywords: :

• atrial fibrillation
• cardiac surgery
• inflammation
• statins