Prescribing Advice for GPs

Rosuvastatin of no benefit in heart failure

April 22, 2008 on 1:44 pm | In Prescribing Extra - Drugs |  Print |

The New England Journal of Medicine has published the results of the CORONA study. This study aimed to assess the cardiovascular benefits of rosuvastatin (Crestor^®) in older patients with heart failure.

The study recruits 5,011 patients who were at least 60 years of age and had a diagnosis of heart failure (New York Heart Association class II, III or IV). Participants were randomly assigned to rosuvastatin 10mg or placebo and followed up for a median of 32.8 months. The primary outcome of the study was a composite of cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction or non-fatal stroke.

The study found no statistical difference in the primary outcome or in the rate of all cause mortality. A secondary outcome found a statistical difference in rates of hospital admissions however this finding should be viewed with caution because the primary outcome was not significant.

The NPCi review concludes that simvastatin 40mg remains the first line statin. Additionally, clinicians should consider therapy with all other statins before resorting to rosuvastatin.

Action: Rosuvastatin currently has no published data demonstrating beneficial effects in outcomes that are important to patients, namely reducing the rate of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

This article is based on an NPCi Rapid Review and is used with permission