Summary
We aimed to determine whether statin use is associated with a decreased risk of recurrent
venous thromboembolism (VTE) in older patients. We used a pre-assembled cohort of
patients at least 65 years of age diagnosed with incident VTE between January 1, 1994
and December 31, 2004 in the province of Québec, Canada and followed until December
31, 2005. Time-dependent Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate adjusted
hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) of recurrent VTE associated
with current and past use of statins, compared with non-use. The cohort included 25,681
patients with incident VTE. During a mean follow-up of 3.0 years, there were 2343
recurrent VTE events (rate: 3.1 per 100 personyears). Compared with non-use, current
use of statins was associated with a decreased risk of VTE recurrence (rates: 1.55
vs 3.47 per 100 per year, respectively; HR: 0.74, 95 % CI: 0.61–0.89), while no association
was observed with past use (HR: 0.98, 95 % CI: 0.76–1.25). In a secondary analysis,
longer durations of statin use were associated with greater risk reductions (0–6 months,
HR 0.82, 95 % CI: 0.67–1.01; 6–12 months, HR 0.62, 95 % CI: 0.43–0.90; ≥ 12 months,
HR: 0.50, 95 % CI: 0.33–0.74; p-value for trend ≤ 0.001). The use of statin was associated
with a decreased risk of recurrent VTE in older patients. This study supports the
need for randomised controlled trials to assess the efficacy and safety of statins
in the long-term treatment of VTE.
Keywords
Deep-vein thrombosis - elderly - pulmonary embolism - statins - venous thromboembolism