Tailored clinical management after blinded statin challenge improved long-term lipid control in coronary patients with self-perceived muscle side-effects

Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Public hospital(s). Main funding source(s): Helse Sør-Øst, Vestre Viken Trust Background Statin discontinuation due to self-perceived muscle side-effects is a major challenge in clinical practice. Strategies are needed to improve lipid control in these patients. Purpose We studied if information about the results of a blinded statin challenge experiment, followed by tailored lipid lowering treatment, had long-term effects on lipid control in coronary patients with self-perceived muscle side-effects. Methods A post-trial intervention study of patients classified with statin dependent (N = 20) and independent (N = 50) muscle complaints in the MUscle Side-Effects of atorvastatin (MUSE), a randomized, double-blinded, crossover trial. All participants were informed of the MUSE trial results in an individual consultation and provided tailored lipid-lowering treatment according to protocol with 1-2 follow-up calls. Lipids were controlled at the end of follow-up. Results Mean age was 64 (SD 9.5) years and 33% (N = 23) were females. During an average follow-up of 13 months (SD 3.3), mean LDL-cholesterol was reduced by 0.3 (SD 0.6) mmol/L (p = 0.005) in patients with statins and by 1.7 (SD 1.0) mmol/L (p = 0.005) in patients without statins at inclusion in the MUSE trial (Table). We found no changes in the overall use of high-intensity statins, but ezetimibe was used by 11 additional patients and 4 patients were prescribed a PCSK9-inhibitor. Participants in the subgroup without statins at inclusion used; atorvastatin (N = 2), rosuvastatin (N = 3) or a PCSK9-inhibitor (N = 2) at follow-up. 90% found their own trial results useful in making decisions about future statin use. Conclusions Information about the results of a statin challenge experiment combined with tailored and systematical prescription of lipid-lowering agents had favourable long-term effects on lipid control in coronary patients with self-perceived muscle side-effects. Characteristics of the study population Using statins at inclusion (n = 62) Not using statins at inclusion (n = 8) Classified with statin-dependent side-effects, n (%) 15 (24) 5 (63) LDL-cholesterol at inclusion, mean (SD) 2.2 (0.8) 4.2 (1.1) LDL-cholesterol at follow-up, mean (SD) 1.9 (0.7) 2.5 (0.8) High intensity statin (ie. ≥40 mg atorvastatin or ≥20 mg rosuvastatin) at inclusion, n (%) 40 (55.6) 0 (0) High intensity statin at follow-up, n (%) 38 (61) 2 (25) Ezetimibe at inclusion, n (%) 13 (21) 3 (38) Ezetimibe at follow-up, n (%) 26 (42) 1 (13) PCSK-9 inhibitor at follow-up, n (%) 2 (3) 2 (25) Usefulness of own trial result in making decisions about future statin use on a 0 to 10 Likert scale, mean (SD) 8.1 (2.0) 9.6 (0.6)