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Ann. Intern. Med. 2013
Jun 01;158(12)869-876, AM Patel, S Shariff, DG Bailey, DN Juurlink, S
Gandhi, M Mamdani, T Gomes, J Fleet, YJ Hwang, AX Garg
PracticeUpdate Editorial Team
Objective: To measure the frequency of statin toxicity after coprescription of a statin with clarithromycin or erythromycin.
Design: Population-based cohort study.
Setting: Ontario, Canada, from 2003 to 2010.
Patients: Continuous statin users older than 65 years who were prescribed clarithromycin (n = 72 591) or erythromycin (n = 3267) compared with those prescribed azithromycin (n = 68 478).
Measurements: The primary outcome was hospitalization with rhabdomyolysis within 30 days of the antibiotic prescription.
Results: Atorvastatin was the most commonly prescribed statin (73%) followed by simvastatin and lovastatin. Compared with azithromycin, coprescription of a statin with clarithromycin or erythromycin was associated with a higher risk for hospitalization with rhabdomyolysis (absolute risk increase, 0.02% [95% CI, 0.01% to 0.03%]; relative risk [RR], 2.17 [CI, 1.04 to 4.53]) or with acute kidney injury (absolute risk increase, 1.26% [CI, 0.58% to 1.95%]; RR, 1.78 [CI, 1.49 to 2.14]) and for all-cause mortality (absolute risk increase, 0.25% [CI, 0.17% to 0.33%]; RR, 1.56 [CI, 1.36 to 1.80]).
Limitations: Only older adults were included in the study. The absolute risk increase for rhabdomyolysis may be underestimated because the codes used to identify it were insensitive.
Annals of Internal Medicine