Eur Heart J

Do lipid-lowering therapies reduce VTE risk?

June 21, 2024

Lipid-lowering therapies (LLT) may have a potential for VTE prevention, particularly at high-intensity doses and in combination therapy.

• This systematic review and network meta-analysis included 45 RCTs (N=254,933 patients) of statins, ezetimibe, or proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors (PCSK9i). A total of 2,084 VTE events were reported in the included trials.
• Compared with placebo, the combination of PCSK9i with high-intensity statin was associated with the largest reduction in VTE risk (risk ratio [RR] 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.43-0.80), while there was a trend towards reduction for high-intensity (0.84; CI, 0.70-1.02) and low-/moderate-intensity (RR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.79-1.00) statin monotherapy.
• Ezetimibe monotherapy didn't affect VTE risk (RR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.83-1.30). There was a gradual increase in the summary effect of VTE reduction with increasing intensity of LLT.
• When compared with low-/moderate-intensity statin monotherapy, the combination of PCSK9i and high-intensity statin was significantly more likely to reduce VTE risk (RR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.49-0.89).

Source:

Farmakis IT, et al. (2024, June 14). Eur Heart J. Lipid lowering for prevention of venous thromboembolism: a network meta-analysis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38874212/