Short-term use of statins as an adjuvant therapy in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy

Abstract

Objective: Echocardiographic assessment of cardiac functions in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy before and after using statins as adjuvant therapy. Methodology: With the study duration of 12 weeks 40 patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy with the New York Heart Association Class II and III were selected and randomly divided into two groups. Group A patients received 10 mg/day of atorvastatin along with usual care and Group B patients received usual care of chronic heart failure. anthropometric, biochemical, echocardiography, 6-min walk test and serum lipid profile were done at baseline and at the end of the study in both the groups. All the data were statistically analysed using 't'-test. Results/Observations: In both the groups, mean ejection fraction (EF) was comparable. It increased in Group A, i.e., study group from 28.92% ±1.63% to 34.18% ±1.27% (P < 0.02). There was significant reduction observed in left ventricular and systolic volume from 194.9 ± 57.34 ml/m2 to 154.15 ± 44.67 ml/m2 (P < 0.002). At the end of the study, 6-min walk test's mean also improved from 310 ± 10.71 to 335 ± 8.71 m (P < 0.001). No major side effects, dropouts and deaths were observed. Conclusion: Statins as an adjuvant therapy improve EF decreases ventricular remodelling and also help in improving the functional class of patients suffering from idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy.

Keywords

• Adjunct therapy
• dilated cardiomyopathy
• statins