Statins, ventricular arrhythmias and heart rate variability in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators and coronary heart disease.

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias and heart rate variability were influenced by statin treatment and lipid levels in patients treated with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). Heart rate variability measurements were performed in 86 patients with coronary heart disease and an ICD implant. The number of events with ventricular fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia were recorded during a 12-month period. This study lends little support for an antiarrhythmic effect of statins or any relation between plasma lipids and lipoproteins and malignant ventricular arrhythmias in patients with an ICD. Copyright (c) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.