Meta-Analysis of 12 Trials Evaluating the Effects of Statins on Decreasing Atrial Fibrillation After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting.

In this manuscript the authors describe their findings in a meta-analysis of 12 randomized placebo-controlled clinical trials involving 2,980 patients undergoing isolated CABG. They found that statin therapy, particularly atorvastatin, initiated before CABG, was associated with a 58% reduction in the risk of postoperative AF. Unfortunately, the optimal dose of statin therapy to achieve this effect was not addressed in the study. Other interesting findings were that the length of hospital stay was lower, and there was a lower number of  strokes with preoperative statin therapy. The risk of postoperative MI and renal failure were not significantly decreased with statins.