title: Current evidence for perioperative statins in cardiac surgery.
abstract: Cardiac surgery improves life expectancy and quality of life for the constantly ageing population in developed countries. Mediated by their lipid-dependent and lipid-independent mechanisms, statins are sought to provide benefit with regard to better outcomes after cardiac surgery. Current guidelines recommend statin use in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting, while less evidence is available for patients referred to heart valve surgery. Optimal selection of statin drug and dosage including perioperative timing of statin therapy remains largely unknown, but results of ongoing meta-analyses and future randomized trials will add important evidence to guide perioperative statin treatment of cardiac surgery patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Heart Center, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Elmar W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Kuhn
authors.forename: Oliver J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Liakopoulos
authors.forename: Yeong H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wahlers
mesh_terms: D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods / Q000401:mortality; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D019990:Perioperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors