title: The effect of atorvastatin on P wave dispersion in hyperlipidemic patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  P wave dispersion (PWD) has been shown to be a noninvasive predictor for the development of atrial ﬁbrillation (AF). Atorvastatin is a 3 hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMGCoA) reductase inhibitor that lowers blood cholesterol levels. The beneficial effect of atorvastatin on atrial arrhythmias is controversial. Aim of this study was to investigate the effect of atorvastatin treatment on PWD in hyperlipidemic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-nine newly diagnosed hyperlipidemic patients and 30 normolipidemic healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. All hyperlipidemic patients received atorvastatin 20-40 mg/ day according to their cholesterol levels and hypolipidemic diet treatment. Twelve-lead surface electrocardiogram (ECG) were recorded from hyperlipidemic patients before and after 6-months of atorvastatin therapy and from control group at their first visit. The P-wave duration measurements were calculated from these surfaces of ECG.
  
  
  RESULTS
  When pretreatment PWD, P maximum and P minimum values were compared with post-treatment values, a statistically significant decrease was found after 6 months (p less than 0.001, p=0.012 and p=0.007, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Atorvastatin lowered PWD significantly, so this finding may be important in the prevention of AF in hyperlipidemic patients.
authors.affiliation: 1Cardiology Clinic, Bağcılar Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, 2 Department of Cardiology, Muğla University, Muğla, 3Department of Cardiology, Mehmet Akif Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul; Turkey.
authors.forename: Burak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ayça
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Akın
authors.forename: Irfan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Şahin
authors.forename: Süleyman Sezai
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Yıldız
authors.forename: Mehmet Mustafa
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Can
authors.forename: Ilker Ilhan
authors.initials: II
authors.lastname: Avcı
authors.forename: Ömer
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Çelik
authors.forename: Ertuğrul
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Okuyan
authors.forename: Mustafa Hakan
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Dinçkal
mesh_terms: D000069059:Atorvastatin; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000097:blood; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D000069059:Atorvastatin