HealthDay News — Statin initiation is associated with lower overall incidence of hospitalization due to severe hepatic injury in patients with chronic liver disease, results of a study published in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology suggest.
To estimate the risk of severe hepatic injury associated with different statins in patients with chronic liver disease, Chia-Hsuin Chang, MD, PhD, of the National Taiwan University in Dou-Liou City, and colleagues conducted a nationwide population-based cohort study involving 37,929 subjects with chronic liver disease who started statin therapy.
Of the patients, 912 incident cases of hospitalization due to hepatic injury were identified during a total of 118,772 person-years of follow-up. For atorvastatin, lovastatin, fluvastatin, pravastatin, simvastatin, and rosuvastatin initiators, the incidence rates were 2.95, 2.49, 2.92, 1.94, 2.65, and 2.52 per 100,000 person-days, respectively.
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There was no difference overall in the incidence with different statins. On further categorization of high- and low-dose statins, high-dose, but not low-dose, atorvastatin was significantly associated with increased risk of hospitalization due to hepatic injury (hazard ratio, 1.62; 95% CI: 1.29, 2.03).
“The overall incidence of hospitalization due to severe hepatic injury was low among statin initiators with chronic liver disease,” concluded the study authors.
