Cholesterol-lowering statin drug therapy has been shown to improve patients' outcomes after episodes of acute coronary syndrome, periods of life-threatening heart disease. Now, researchers say statins also may have a beneficial impact when begun while patients experience acute coronary syndrome.

Researchers from the Czech Republic gave 156 acute coronary syndrome patients either 80 milligrams (mg) of fluvastatin (78 patients) or a placebo (78 patients). Patients received medication immediately and once daily for 30 days, and were then encouraged to continue statin therapy.

The researchers studied blood samples at admission, on day 2 and day 30. All participants were followed for one year for the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events - death, heart attack, recurrent symptomatic ischemia, urgent revascularization or stroke.

Researchers found:

• Fluvastatin therapy significantly reduced one-year occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (12.8 percent vs. 26.9 percent).
• The difference was caused mainly by less recurrent symptomatic ischemia (7.7 percent vs. 20.5 percent).
• Fewer fluvastatin patients had new hospitalizations (17.9 percent. vs. 43.6 percent).
• After 30 days of treatment, fluvastatin patients' low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was lowered by 29.5 percent.

Researchers said their study suggests that statin therapy may be beneficial not only in secondary prevention but also directly in the therapy of acute coronary syndrome, when started in unstable patients as early as at hospital admission.

Petr Ostadal, M.D., Ph.D., Na Homolce Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic was lead author of the study.