Effect of pravastatin compared with placebo initiated within 24 hours of onset of acute myocardial infarction or unstable angina: the Pravastatin in Acute Coronary Treatment (PACT) trial.
BACKGROUND
The efficacy of statin drugs after an acute coronary event is now well established, but the evidence for statin use in the early treatment of acute coronary events remains unclear.


METHODS
We tested the effects of administering pravastatin within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms in patients with unstable angina, non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, or ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Patient recruitment of 10,000 with 1200 end points was planned, but the trial was stopped early. A total of 3408 patients were randomly assigned to treatment with pravastatin (1710 patients) or matching placebo (1698 patients). Treatment was continued for 4 weeks. The primary end point of the study was a composite of death, recurrence of myocardial infarction, or readmission to hospital for unstable angina within 30 days of random assignment.


RESULTS
The primary end point occurred in 199 of patients allocated to pravastatin (11.6%) and in 211 patients allocated to placebo (12.4%). A relative risk reduction of 6.4% favored allocation to pravastatin but was not statistically significant (95% CI, -13.2% to 27.6%). No adverse effects were seen.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that 20 to 40 mg of pravastatin can be safely administered within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms of an acute coronary event, with a favorable but not significant trend in outcome at 30 days compared with placebo.
Thompson
Peter L
PL
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Nedlands, Perth, WA, Australia. peter.thompson@health.wa.gov.au
Meredith
Ian
I
Amerena
John
J
Campbell
Terence J
TJ
Sloman
J Graeme
JG
Harris
Phillip J
PJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000789:Angina, Unstable / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D017035:Pravastatin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012008:Recurrence; D012306:Risk
D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D002784:Cholesterol; D017035:Pravastatin