Reduced risks of death and CHF are associated with statin therapy administered acutely within the first 24 h of AMI

Background Reports have demonstrated an association between statin therapy during the first day of hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and reduced mortality. There are little data about whether early statin therapy reduces risk of CHF and alters timing of death. Methods We identified 3226 consecutive patients with AMI from 1993 through 2000 and divided them into early statin therapy (statins were administered within the initial 24 h of hospitalization, n = 220) and non-statin therapy groups (n = 3006). We compared mortality risks, rates of CHF development and measures of peak CK and CK-MB values between the groups. Results In-hospital mortality was lower in the early statin therapy group (2.7%) compared to the non-statin therapy group (9.2%), p = 0.001. We observed no differences in the median time to death (statin group 132 h vs. non-statin group 72 h), p = 0.3. Patients with very early statin treatment had lower peak CK (624 ng/ml) and CK-MB (46 ng/ml) values compared to non-statin patients (848 ng/ml and 84 ng/ml), p < 0.01. Patients in the early statin group had lower risks of developing CHF during hospitalization (10.2 %) compared to the non-statin group (25.7%), p < 0.001. Conclusion Very early administration of statin therapy during the first day of hospitalization for AMI was associated with lower in-hospital mortality, lower rates of developing CHF and reduced peak biomarker release. These data support a benefit from early statin therapy in AMI and support the need for prospective studies which test whether very early statin therapy might also reduce infarct size.