Atorvastatin Therapy Increases Heart Rate Variability, Decreases QT Variability, and Shortens QTc Interval Duration in Patients With Advanced Chronic Heart Failure

Simvastatin reduces sympathetic activity in men with hypertension and hypercholesterolemia

“…35 In a study of 80 subjects with New York Heart Association class III heart failure, atorvastatin therapy resulted in significant increases in the HRV time domain indices. 13 In that study, therapy was associated with a reduction of cholesterol; however, the atorvastatin concentration was not correlated with changes in the HRV indices. The findings in this and other studies have suggested that a reduction in sympathetic activity after statin treatment may be associated with mechanisms other than those that lower plasma lipids.…”

“…11 Furthermore, a few studies in patients with heart failure showed that statins improved sympathovagal balance, as reflected in the change in HRV indices. 12,13 Statins are commonly prescribed for patients with hypertension, both with and without hypercholesterolemia, to reduce their cardiovascular risk. To date, no randomized, placebo-controlled studies have investigated whether statins can reduce sympathetic tone in subjects with hypertension, or ascertained the mechanisms involved.…”

Prognostic Impact of Statin Use in Patients With Heart Failure and Preserved Ejection Fraction

“…29 Vrtovec et al reported that atorvastatin therapy increased heart rate variability, decreased QT variability, and shortened the QTc interval duration in patients with advanced chronic HF. 30 They further demonstrated in another study that atorvastatin therapy was associated with decreased incidence of sudden cardiac death in patients with advanced HF. 31 However, the effect on sudden cardiac death has never been reported in patients with HFpEF, regardless of study design or study sample size.…”

Statins as Anti‐Arrhythmics: A Systematic Review Part II: Effects on Risk of Ventricular Arrhythmias

“…The benefit of statins in reducing VA may relate directly or indirectly to one or more of their pleiotropic effects. For example, the anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimitogenic properties of these medications may play a role in plaque stabilization and thus contribute to an antiarrhythmic effect by reducing ischemia-related VA. Additionally, statins have been shown to enhance cardiovascular autonomic balance, which may in and of itself reduce the propensity for arrhythmia development, 8,9 and to improve LV systolic function in patients with cardiomyopathy, which may influence the risk of VA in these patients. 20 Of interest, the improved survival noted with statins in nonischemic cardiomyopathy patients with heart failure was reported to be independent of the lipid-lowering effects of these agents 21 and was not related to a significant reduction in appropriate ICD-delivered therapies in one study.…”

“…5 Additionally, statins have been shown to reduce ischemiainduced myocardial necrosis and ischemia-reperfusion injury in animal models 6,7 and to favorably influence markers of cardiovascular autonomic regulation such as heart rate variability. 8,9 Interestingly, recent studies have demonstrated that statins may also possess antiarrhythmic properties. Current data suggests that statins may be useful in the prevention of ventricular arrhythmias.…”