Relationship Between Statin Use and Outcomes in Patients Having Cardiac Arrest (from a Nationwide Cohort Study in Taiwan)

Pretreatment with statins is associated with improved outcomes in severe sepsis, acute coronary syndrome, and stroke. Patients with cardiac arrest experience sepsis-like syndrome and ischemia reperfusion injuries in the heart and brain. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of statin use before cardiac arrest on outcomes in cardiac arrest patients. Medical records of 142,131 adult patients who experienced nontraumatic cardiac arrest and were resuscitated between 2004 and 2011 were analyzed. Patients were grouped into 2 groups: the “statin group” comprised patients who had received statin treatment for at least 30 days before the cardiac arrest event; the “never statin group” comprised patients who had no statin use within 30 days before the event. Patients with previous statin treatment had better chance of survival to hospital discharge (6.1% vs 4.3%, p <0.0001) and 1-year survival (4.8% vs 3.2%, p <0.0001) after propensity score matching. Previous statin use was an independent predictor for 1-year survival (adjusted odds ratio 1.41, 95% confidence interval 1.16 to 1.71; p = 0.001). A favorable outcome effect of statin on 1-year survival was observed in the presence of diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and Charlson Comorbidity Index score greater than 5 in the subgroup analysis. In conclusion, statin use before cardiac arrest is associated with 1-year survival in a propensity score-matched nationwide cohort study.