The effect of atorvastatin on P wave dispersion in hyperlipidemic patients.

AIM P wave dispersion (PWD) has been shown to be a noninvasive predictor for the development of atrial fibrillation (AF). Atorvastatin is a 3 hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMGCoA) reductase inhibitor that lowers blood cholesterol levels. The beneficial effect of atorvastatin on atrial arrhythmias is controversial. Aim of this study was to investigate the effect of atorvastatin treatment on PWD in hyperlipidemic patients. METHODS Seventy-nine newly diagnosed hyperlipidemic patients and 30 normolipidemic healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. All hyperlipidemic patients received atorvastatin 20-40 mg/ day according to their cholesterol levels and hypolipidemic diet treatment. Twelve-lead surface electrocardiogram (ECG) were recorded from hyperlipidemic patients before and after 6-months of atorvastatin therapy and from control group at their first visit. The P-wave duration measurements were calculated from these surfaces of ECG. RESULTS When pretreatment PWD, P maximum and P minimum values were compared with post-treatment values, a statistically significant decrease was found after 6 months (p less than 0.001, p=0.012 and p=0.007, respectively). CONCLUSION Atorvastatin lowered PWD significantly, so this finding may be important in the prevention of AF in hyperlipidemic patients.