Efficacy of single high-dose statin prior to percutaneous coronary intervention in acute coronary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The impacts of single high-dose statin preloading in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have not been fully examined. This study aims to evaluate post-procedure impacts of single high-dose statin pretreatment with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). The meta-analysis reviewed Cochrane, PubMed, and Medline databases for studies comparing single high-dose atorvastatin or rosuvastatin to placebo in ACS patients undergoing PCI. The primary endpoints included major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), myocardial infarction (MI), all-cause mortality, and target vessel revascularization (TVR) at three months. Secondary endpoints examined were the TIMI flow grade 3 and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Comprehensive analysis was conducted on fifteen RCTs, encompassing a total of 6,207 patients (3090 vs 3117 patients). The pooled results demonstrated that a single high-dose of statin administered prior to PCI led to a significant decrease in the incidence of MACE at three months post-PCI compared to the control group (OR 0.50, 95%CI 0.35–0.71, p = 0.0001). The occurrence of MI (OR 0.57, 95%CI 0.42–0.77, p = 0.0002), all-cause mortality (OR 0.56, 95%CI 0.39–0.81, p = 0.0002), and TVR (OR 0.56, 95%CI 0.35–0.92, p = 0.02) was significantly lower in the statin single high-dose group compared to the control group. No significant effects on TIMI flow grade 3 (OR 1.20, 95%CI 0.94–1.53, p = 0.14) or left ventricular ejection fraction (OR 2.19, 95%CI − 0.97 to 5.34, p = 0.17) were observed. Subgroup analysis demonstrated reduced incidence of MACE with a single dose of 80 mg atorvastatin (OR 0.66, 95%CI 0.54–0.81, p < 0.0001) and 40 mg rosuvastatin (OR 0.19, 95%CI 0.07–0.54, p = 0.002). Single high-dose statin before PCI in patients with ACS significantly reduces MACE, MI, all-cause mortality, and TVR three months post-PCI.