Abstract
PURPOSE: Concomitant use of vitamin K antagonists (VKA) and statins is frequent in cardiovascular patients. However, clinical guidelines on this drug combination are divergent. Therefore, we performed a systematic review to evaluate the effect of statin initiation on coagulation among VKA users.
METHODS: Following the PRISMA guidelines, we applied two broad search strategies for the drug interaction between VKA and statins in both Embase and Pubmed; 8623 unique hits were obtained. In the final sample, eight studies were included.
RESULTS: The most frequently used VKA in the studies was warfarin, while simvastatin was the most commonly initiated statin. All included studies showed a minor increase in the anticoagulant effect of VKA following statin initiation during VKA treatment. The reported increases in mean international normalized ratio (INR) ranged from 0.15-0.65.
CONCLUSION: The anticoagulant effect of statin initiation in patients treated with VKA is likely to be of limited clinical relevance but should be evaluated individually.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
---|---|
Tidsskrift | European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology |
Vol/bind | 77 |
Udgave nummer | 10 |
Sider (fra-til) | 1435-1441 |
Antal sider | 7 |
ISSN | 0031-6970 |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - okt. 2021 |