Kitas GD, et al. - In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, researchers compared atorvastatin to placebo for primary prevention of cardiovascular events (CVEs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. This investigation was undertaken to detect a 32% CVE risk attenuation based on a projected 1.6% per annum event rate with 80% power at P < 0.05. They administered atorvastatin 40 mg daily or matching placebo to RA patients aged >50 years or with a disease duration of >10 years who did not have clinical atherosclerosis, diabetes, or myopathy. A composite of cardiovascular mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, transient ischemic attack, or any arterial revascularization was assessed as the primary end point. This study included 3,002 patients (mean age 61 years; 74% female) who were observed over a median of 2.51 years. Findings revealed the safety as well as the efficacy of atorvastatin 40 mg daily to bring about a significantly greater reduction of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level vs placebo in patients with RA. They found that the 34% CVE risk reduction was consistent with the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists’ Collaboration meta-analysis of statin impacts in other populations.