Polypharmacy in the Heart Failure Patient: Are All Prescribed Drug Classes Required? Statin Withdrawal Study

NCT01554592 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: CP-02/12
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 13
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Heart failure (cardiomyopathy) is a chronic condition in which the heart fails to function as a pump to move blood around the body. This sets up a complex physiologic response to compensate, which include activation of many hormonal mechanisms which result in fluid accumulation. In recent years, medications to block the hormonal response to heart failure are given as standard drugs, and these include ACE inhibitors and beta blockers. Mortality is reduced with these medications, as well as symptoms improved. Other medications are also used in heart failure, for which a clear-cut benefit has not been demonstrated. Statins, also called HMG CoA reductase inhibitors, are used to reduce cholesterol levels and can help to prevent heart failure by preventing heart attacks. They have been used in heart failure that is not caused by heart attacks in the belief that they had "pleiotropic" effects, meaning that they had beneficial effects in heart failure separate from the reduction in cholesterol. However large trials in heart failure have demonstrated that statins do not increase survival compared with placebo. There is no evidence to recommend their routine use in established heart failure caused by either heart attacks or genetics. The investigators propose that the use of statins in heart failure is unnecessary and could be stopped. The importance of finding evidence to cease unproven medications in heart failure cannot be understated. Patients with heart failure take an average of six prescription medications each day. Each medication has side effects and the interactions of all the drugs together are unknown. Statins are the commonest reason for side effects in patients with heart failure, causing muscle pains and gastrointestinal upset. In this study, the investigators plan to withdraw statins from patients with stable heart failure in a closely monitored environment and watch for the effect of this on heart failure and on how they feel generally.

Conditions

Heart Failure

Keywords

Heart Failure; Statin withdrawal

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• NYHA (New York Heart Association) Heart Failure class

  baseline and after 12 weeks of treatemnt

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• 6 minutes walk test

  Baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment

• Quality of life questionnaire

  Baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment

• Change in BNP (Brain natriuretic peptide)

  Baseline and after 12 weeks of treatment

Study Arms (2)

Statin withdrawal

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will received a placebo for 12 weeks.

Drug: Withdrawal of statin therapy

Stable statin therapy

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants need to have been receiving statin therapy for at least 3 months and be on a stable dose.

Drug: Statin therapy

Interventions

Withdrawal of statin therapy DRUG

Participants currently received statin therapy will have their statin stopped for 12 weeks.

Statin withdrawal

Statin therapy DRUG

Participants will continue on stable statin therapy.

Stable statin therapy

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Over the age of 18 years
• Documented heart failure of ischaemic, idiopathic or hypertensive cause
• New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II, III or IV symptoms
• LVEF \< 0.40, or no more than 0.35 if NYHA class II and ischaemic aetiology.
• Receiving ACE inhibitor or ARB (Angiotensin II Receptor Blockers), β-blocker and diuretic therapy at the optimal doses.
• Has been receiving statin therapy for at least 3 months
• Willing and able to provide informed consent

You may not qualify if:

• Treatment with statins primarily for treatment of hypercholesterolaemia
• Obstructive or restrictive cardiomyopathy
• Uncorrected primary valvular disease
• Active myocarditis
• Decompensated heart failure or a need for inotropic therapy
• Myocardial infarction within the past 6 months
• Unstable angina or stroke within the past 3 months
• PCI (Percutaneous coronary intervention), CABG (coronary artery bypass graft)or implantation of cardioverter-defibrillator or biventricular pacemaker within the past 3 months or a planned implantation of such a device
• Previous or planned cardiac transplantation
• Pericardial disease or systemic disease (eg amyloidosis)
• Acute or chronic liver disease
• Alanine and aspartate transminase concentrations more than 1.5 times the upper limit of normal
• Chronic muscle disease or an unexplained creatinine kinase level of more than 2.5 times the upper limit of normal
• Serum creatinine level greater than 221 micromol/L
• Previous treatment with cyclosporine

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Alfred: lead

Study Sites (1)

Clinical Pharmacology, Alfred Hospital

Melbourne, Victoria, 3004, Australia

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Heart Failure

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Heart Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases

Study Officials

• Henry Krum, MBBS FRACP PhD

  Alfred Hospital/Monash University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Dr Ingrid Hopper

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 8, 2012
• First Posted: March 15, 2012
• Study Start: March 1, 2012
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2014
• Study Completion: December 1, 2014
• Last Updated: June 1, 2016

Record last verified: 2016-05

Locations

AU (1)