title: Statin escape phenomenon: Fact or fiction?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the presence of the so called "statin escape" phenomenon among hyperlipidemic subjects attending a lipid clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective analysis of 1240 hyperlipidemic individuals followed-up for ≥ 3 years. We excluded those individuals meeting one of the following criteria: Use of statin therapy at baseline visit, discontinuation of statin treatment at most recent visit, change in statin treatment during follow-up and poor compliance to treatment. Statin escape phenomenon was defined as an increase in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels at the most recent visit by > 10% compared with the value at 6 mo following initiation of statin treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 181 eligible subjects, 31% exhibited the statin escape phenomenon. No major differences regarding baseline characteristics were found between statin escapers and non-statin escapers. Both escapers and non-escapers had similar baseline LDL-C levels [174 (152-189) and 177 (152-205) mg/dL, respectively]. In comparison with non-escapers, statin escapers demonstrated lower LDL-C levels at 6 mo after treatment initiation [88 (78-97) mg/dLvs109 (91-129) mg/dL,P< 0.05], but higher levels at the most recent visit [103 (96-118) mg/dLvs94 (79-114) mg/dL,P< 0.05].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data confirm the existence of an escape phenomenon among statin-treated individuals. The clinical significance of this phenomenon remains uncertain.
authors.affiliation: Fotios Barkas, Moses Elisaf, Eleftherios Klouras, Theodora Dimitriou, Evangelos Liberopoulos, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Fotios
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barkas
authors.affiliation: Fotios Barkas, Moses Elisaf, Eleftherios Klouras, Theodora Dimitriou, Evangelos Liberopoulos, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Moses
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elisaf
authors.affiliation: Fotios Barkas, Moses Elisaf, Eleftherios Klouras, Theodora Dimitriou, Evangelos Liberopoulos, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Eleftherios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Klouras
authors.affiliation: Fotios Barkas, Moses Elisaf, Eleftherios Klouras, Theodora Dimitriou, Evangelos Liberopoulos, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Theodora
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dimitriou
authors.affiliation: Fotios Barkas, Moses Elisaf, Eleftherios Klouras, Theodora Dimitriou, Evangelos Liberopoulos, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tentolouris
authors.affiliation: Fotios Barkas, Moses Elisaf, Eleftherios Klouras, Theodora Dimitriou, Evangelos Liberopoulos, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Evangelos
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Liberopoulos
keywords: Cholesterol; Escape; Statin