Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus, Heart Disease, Nature, Statins / 27.02.2021
COVID-19: Prior Use of Statins Associated with Decreased Mortality in Hospitalized Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Aakriti Gupta MD MS
Fellow, Interventional Cardiology
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: While taking care of patients with COVID-19 last spring and summer at the height of the pandemic, we observed that patients who got very sick and required hospitalization had high rates of hyperinflammation with elevated CRP levels, and thromboembolic phenomena. As cardiologists who frequently prescribe statins for hyperlipidemia, they were a class of drugs that came naturally to mind for their anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant and immunomodulatory properties in addition to their cholesterol lowering properties. As such, we decided to look at the association of statin use with in-hospital mortality in patients who are hospitalized with COVID-19. (more…)