title: Lipid lowering drugs and the risk of recurrent venous thromboembolism.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Several studies have suggested that statins may lower the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), whereas fibrates may increase this risk. However, no studies have evaluated whether lipid-lowering drugs (LLD) use was associated with the risk of VTE recurrence.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a prospective cohort study, we followed-up all patients who had been treated for a first unprovoked VTE event in our centre. The association between LLD exposure and risk of recurrence of VTE after discontinuation of anticoagulation was analyzed with Cox proportional hazards model with adjustment for age, sex, body mass index, site of thrombosis, antiplatelets use, and duration of anticoagulation before inclusion in the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  432 patients (median age 65.5 years interquartile range 45.0-75.0, 174 men) were followed up for a median of 29.5 months after discontinuation of anticoagulation. Sixty patients (13.9%) had recurrent VTE. During follow-up, 48 patients (11.1%) received statins, 36 patients (8.3%) received fibrates. In multivariate analysis, the risk of recurrent VTE associated with statin exposure was 1.02 (95% confidence interval 0.36-2.91) and 2.15 (95% confidence interval 1.01-4.61) for fibrate exposure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest an association between fibrate intake and an increased risk of recurrent VTE, whereas statin intake was not associated with recurrent VTE. Larger studies are needed to validate these results.
authors.affiliation: Université de Bretagne Occidentale, EA 3878, Brest, F-29609 France.
authors.forename: Aurélien
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Delluc
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tromeur
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Le Moigne
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mottier
authors.forename: Grégoire
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Le Gal
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lacut
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D058607:Fibric Acids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D054556:Venous Thromboembolism / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants; D058607:Fibric Acids; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D000960:Hypolipidemic Agents