Statin use is associated with increased amounts of coronary artery plaque

This study was published in Atherosclerosis 2012 Nov;225(1):148-53

Study title and authors:
Statins use and coronary artery plaque composition: Results from the International Multicenter CONFIRM Registry.

Nakazato R, Gransar H, Berman DS, Cheng VY, Lin FY, Achenbach S, Al-Mallah M, Budoff MJ, Cademartiri F, Callister TQ, Chang HJ, Cury RC, Chinnaiyan K, Chow BJ, Delago A, Hadamitzky M, Hausleiter J, Kaufmann P, Maffei E, Raff G, Shaw LJ, Villines TC, Dunning A, Feuchtner G, Kim YJ, Leipsic J, Min JK.
Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute and Department of Imaging, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: Ryo.Nakazato@cshs.org.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22981406

The study investigated the relationship between statin use and the presence of coronary artery plaque. The study included 6,673 individuals, average age 59 years, who had their coronary artery plaque assessed.

The plaque was graded as:
(i) Non-calcified
(ii) Mixed
(iii) Calcified

The study found:
(a) Compared to the individuals not taking statins, those taking statins had an 11% increased presence of non-calcified plaque.
(b) Compared to the individuals not taking statins, those taking statins had an 46% increased presence of mixed plaque.
(c) Compared to the individuals not taking statins, those taking statins had an 54% increased presence of calcified plaque.

The results of the study show that statin use is associated with increased amounts of coronary artery plaque.