• Anis Saib, Laurent Sabbah, Ludivine Perdrix, Didier Blanchard, Nicolas Danchin, and Etienne Puymirat.
• Division of Coronary Artery Disease and Intensive Cardiac Care, Georges-Pompidou European Hospital, Assistance Publique des Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), University Paris-Descartes, 20, rue Leblanc, 75015 Paris, France.
• Arch Cardiovasc Dis. 2013 Oct 1; 106 (10): 511-6.

BackgroundThe effect of statins on the prevention of cardiovascular events is well-established. However, a recent controversy in France questioned the value of statins, especially in primary prevention.AimsTo evaluate the impact of this controversy on patient adherence to statin therapy and its potential clinical impact.MethodsAll patients on statins were recruited consecutively from consultations over a period of 1 month (from March 2013) by five physicians in three centres. Patient demographics and co-morbidities were collected and adherence to statin therapy was evaluated with a questionnaire. We estimated the number of deaths and major cardiovascular events that could be induced per year.ResultsA total of 142 patients were included: 37 in primary prevention (mean age, 68.0±13.1 years; 41% women); 105 in secondary prevention (mean age, 67.6±12.1 years; 20% women). In primary prevention, 24.3% of patients intended to stop statins versus 8.6% in secondary prevention (P<0.001). In France, if the percentages of medication discontinuations following the controversy were actually similar to those we found in our survey, 4992 major cardiovascular events, including 1159 deaths, would be induced in 1 year.ConclusionRecent controversy over statins could induce a large proportion of patients to stop their medication and generate a large number of major cardiovascular events.Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

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