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A cross-sectional study to evaluate the effect of statins on Achilles tendon morphology using ultrasound tissue characterization.

University of British Columbia

There has been growing interest in studying the possible effects of statins on tendons due to case studies and retrospective chart reviews that reported a potential relationship between statin use and tendon pathology, as well as laboratory studies demonstrating that statins directly influence tenocyte metabolism. However, a recent epidemiological study found no association between statin use and the risk of tendon rupture. Since statins are widely used cholesterol-lowering medications, it is important to understand the potential relationship between statin use and tendon health. With the use of Ultrasound Tissue Characterization (UTC), the aims of this pilot cross-sectional study were to see if there were signs of reduced collagen organization or increased cross-sectional area (CSA) of the Achilles tendon in individuals who had been taking statins for at least a year (the Statin group), compared to those who had never taken a statin (the Control group). We hypothesized that individuals in the Statin group would demonstrate a greater cross-sectional area and reduced collagen organization (determined by the percent of echo-type I) of their Achilles tendons compared to individuals in the Control group. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the UTC scans of 66 individuals who were either taking Statins (n=33) or who had never taken statins (n=33, control group) and compared their resulting Achilles tendon CSA and echo-type I values. There were no significant differences in Achilles tendon CSA or proportion of echo-type I patterns between the two groups, implying that statins do not negatively impact the health of the Achilles tendon. In the entire cohort (n=66), there were significant effects of age (r = -0.31, p = 0.012) and BMI (r = -0.31, p = 0.012) on echo-type I values. These findings support previous work which demonstrated a lack of association between statin use and tendon pathology, but demonstrate the negative effects of aging and elevated BMI on tendon health.

Text

2017-06-02

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/61816

Experimental Medicine

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/