Statin Therapy and Risk of Diabetes Mellitus in Aging Patients With Heterozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia or Familial Combined Hyperlipidemia: A 10-Year Follow-Up.
Skoumas, Ioannis MD 1; Ioakeimidis, Nikolaos MD 1; Vlachopoulos, Charalambos MD 1,; Chrysohoou, Christina MD 1; Michalakeas, Christos MD 1; Georgakopoulos, Christos MD 1; Katsi, Vicky MD 1; Panagiotakos, Demosthenes MD 2; Tousoulis, Dimitrios MD 1
[Miscellaneous Article] Angiology. 69(3):242-248, March 2018.

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We assessed the incidence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) and familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCH) treated with statins. Participants (n = 280) of mean age 59 /- 5 years were included (90 patients with HeFH, 112 patients with FCH, and 78 aged-matched participants). The median statin intensity treatment product (statin intensity in arbitrary equivalence units x duration of statin therapy in months) was 119 and 85 for patients with HeFH and FCH, respectively, at 10-year follow-up. The incidence of DM was significantly lower in patients with HeFH compared to the patients with FCH (2% vs 20%) and the reference group (2% vs 17%) during the 10-year follow-up period (all Ps < .001). Impaired fasting blood glucose at entry (P < .001) and central obesity (P = .02) were the only independent predictors of DM. The incidence of DM was significantly lower in older patients with HeFH compared to either aged-matched patients with FCH or individuals not receiving statins. Statins did not increase risk of DM in aging patients with FCH. These findings have implications, given the importance of high-intensity statin therapy for prevention of cardiovascular events, especially in patients with HeFH, a population with high cardiovascular risk.

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