Statins and the incidence of rhabdomyolysis.

Publication: OB/GYN Clinical Alert

Publication Date: 01-FEB-05

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COPYRIGHT 2005 A Thomson Healthcare Company

The most commonly prescribed statins have a low incidence of rhabdomyolysis, according to the results a new study of more than 250,000 patients. Atorvastatin, pravastatin, and simvastatin were found have very low and virtually indistinguishable rates of rhabdomyolysis of 0.44 per 10,000 person-years (95% CI, 0.20-0.84). The data were obtained from 11 managed care health plans across United States from January 1, 1998, through June 30, 2001. Cerivastatin (Baycol-Bayer), which was withdrawn from the market in 2001, was found have a much of a higher rate of rhabdomyolysis, 5.34 cases per 10,000 person-years (95% CI, 1.46-13.68). The concomitant use of a fibrate with atorvastatin, pravastatin, or simvastatin was found to have increased the rate to 5.98 (95% CI, 0.72-216.0), while use of a fibrate with cerivastatin dramatically increased the rate to 1035 cases per 10,000 person-years of treatment (95% CI, 389-2117), or nearly 1 in 10. Older patients, especially those with diabetes, were found to have higher rates of rhabdomyolysis. The authors conclude that the most commonly prescribed statins...

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