Benefits of statin treatment in cardiac syndrome-X1.

Eur Heart J

Ege University, Medical School, Department of Cardiology, Izmir, Turkey.

Published: November 2003

AI Article Synopsis

  • The study focused on cardiac syndrome-X, which includes angina, positive exercise tests, and normal coronary arteries, suggesting that poor endothelial function in the coronary microvasculature might be the issue.
  • Half of the 40 patients received pravastatin for 3 months, leading to significant improvements in endothelial function (measured by brachial artery flow-mediated dilation) and exercise tolerance compared to the placebo group.
  • The results indicated that statin therapy not only improved endothelial function but also alleviated ischemic symptoms, suggesting that better endothelial health could be key to managing cardiac syndrome-X.

Article Abstract

Aims: The pathophysiological mechanism in cardiac syndrome-X (anginal chest pain, positive exercise test, and angiographically normal coronary arteries) has been suggested as an impairment in normal endothelial function of the coronary microvasculature, resulting in inadequate flow reserve. The aim of this study was to determine whether statins with proven beneficial effects on endothelium, have any effect on endothelial functions and exercise induced ischaemia in cardiac syndrome-X.

Methods And Results: Study population consisted of prospectively enrolled 40 patients with cardiac syndrome-X. Patients with left ventricular hypertrophy, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and LDL levels >/=160 mg/dl were excluded. Half of the patients received pravastatin (40 mg/day) for 3 months irrespective of their lipid values, according to a single-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled design. Endothelial functions were assessed with high-resolution vascular ultrasound, which measured the brachial artery flow mediated dilatation (FMD). Lipid measurements, symptom limited exercise tests and vascular ultrasound images were obtained before and at the end of 3 months. After the treatment, FMD improved significantly in pravastatin group. Exercise duration, and time to 1mm-ST depression were significantly prolonged after statin therapy. Ischaemic symptoms and ECG findings during exercise test disappeared completely in 5 (26%) patients in the statin group. However, there were no significant changes in FMD and exercise parameters in placebo group.

Conclusions: Statin therapy resulted in beneficial effects on both exercise induced ischaemia and FMD in cardiac syndrome-X. The mechanism of this beneficial effect is probably the result of improvement in endothelial functions.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0195-668x(03)00478-0DOI Listing

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