Effects of Hypercholesterolemia and Statin Exposure on Survival in a Large National Cohort of Patients With Cirrhosis

Abstract

Concerns related to hepatotoxicity frequently lead to discontinuation or non-initiation of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase therapy inpatients with cirrhosis despite data supporting statin use.We investigated the independent effects of hyperlipidemia and statin exposure on mortality, hepatic decompensation, and hepatocellular carcinoma development in a large national cohort of patients with cirrhosis. We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients with newly diagnosed cirrhosis from January 1, 2008 through June 30, 2016 in the Veterans Health Administration. Subjects were divided into 2 cohorts: 21,921 patients with prior statin exposure (existing users) and 51,023 statin-naïve individuals, of whom 8794 subsequently initiated statin therapy (newinitiators) and 44,269 did not (non-initiators). Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models with inverse probability weighting were constructed to assess the effects oftime-updating lipid profiles and cumulative exposure to statins on survival and hepatic decompensation. Statin-naïve new initiators were propensity matched with non-initiators tosimulate a randomized controlled trial of statin use incirrhosis. In statin-naïve subjects, every 10-mg/dL increase in baseline total cholesterol was associated with a 3.6% decrease in mortality. In existing users, each year of continued statin exposure was associated with a hazard ratio of 0.920 (95% confidence interval 0.0.897-0.943) for mortality. After risk-set matching, each year of statin exposure among new initiators was associated with a hazard ratio of 0.913 (95% confidence interval 0.890-0.937) for mortality. In a retrospective cohort studyof veterans with a new diagnosis of cirrhosis, weassociated hypercholesterolemia with well-preserved hepatic function and decreased mortality. Nonetheless, each cumulative year of statin exposure was associated withan independent 8.0%-8.7% decrease of mortality of patients with cirrhosis of Child-Turcotte-Pugh classes A andB.