Reider Briguori, a cardiologist at the Clinica Mediterranea in Naples, who was to report the findings at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting, in Orlando, Fla. About half of them were give 40 milligrams of atorvastatin (Lipitor) in the 24 hours before the procedure, and the others did not take the drug. Within 12 hours of the procedure, 15.8% of those who were not given a statin had a heart attack, compared with 9.5% of those given atorvastatin, Briguori reported. But that trial included only people who had not been taking a statin, and "this patient population is disappearing," said Dr.

His study included 688 people who were having the procedure that cardiologists formally call percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), in which angioplasty is performed and a stent is then placed in the artery. It's not the effect that statins have on cholesterol that is responsible for the benefits but rather their ability to reduce inflammation and other problems associated with heart disease, said Dr. "This supports the concept that a high loading dose of a statin a day before PCI can have a beneficial effect," he said.

None had been taking statins before PCI was scheduled.