title: Chronic and regular use of statin prevents atrial fibrillation in period after cardiac surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  [Corrected] Atrial fibrillation is a common complication after cardiac surgery. The previous use of statins may reduce the incidence of this arrhythmia.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate whether the chronic and regular use of statins, for a period of six months, prevents atrial fibrillation after elective cardiac surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  A study carried out with 107 patients that underwent cardiac surgery, including 66% of males and their mean age was 60.4 years (25 to 84). We evaluated the presence of atrial fibrillation among patients that used statins or not on a regular basis in the preoperative period. We excluded patients with urgent heart surgery, kidney failure, inflammatory diseases, previous atrial fibrillation, patients with thyroid disease and those using a permanent pacemaker.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the postoperative period, atrial fibrillation was present in 42 patients (39%) of the sample, including 11 (26%) people that had used statins on a regular basis in the preoperative period and 31 (74%) who had not. It was possible to observe that, in 22% of the patients that were using statin, there was no development of atrial fibrillation, while 45% of those who did not take statin had arrhythmia (ρ = 0.02). In the isolated myocardial revascularization, 47% of the patients that did not take statin and 23% of those that took statin developed atrial fibrillation ( ρ = 0.02). There was no statistically significant difference in the analysis of groups with or without statin for the presence of risk factors for the development of atrial fibrillation (ρ = 0.34).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The regular use of statin, for six months or more in the preoperative period, reduced the incidence of atrial fibrillation after elective cardiac surgery.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Santa Cruz, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. rjorge@cardiol.br
authors.forename: Renato Jorge
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.forename: Rodrigo Noronha
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakiri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards
chemical_list: D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors