Lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) in 1,100 cardiac rehabilitation patients with coronary heart disease: The LLT-R(ehabilitation) registry

Frank Noack ¹ Kristina Eckrich ² Heinz Völler ³ Bernhard Schwaab ⁴ Viktoria Heinze ⁵ Christa Bongarth ⁶ Manju Guha ⁷ Michael Richter ⁸ Nadja Schwark ¹ Alexandra Strobel ⁹ Axel Schlitt ^5*

• ¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, University Clinic Halle-Saale, Halle (Saale), Germany
• ² Clinic at Tharandter Forest, Halsbruecke, Germany
• ³ Klinik am See, Department of Cardiology, Rüdersdorf, Germany
• ⁴ Curschmann-Clinic Timmendorfer Strand and Medical Faculty of the University of Lübeck,, Timmendorf, Germany
• ⁵ Paracelsus-Harz-Clinic, Department of Cardiology, Quedlinburg, Germany
• ⁶ Clinic Höhenried, Bernried, Germany
• ⁷ Rehabilitation Clinic Sendesaal, Bremen, Germany
• ⁸ Coordination Center for Clinical Studies, Martin Luther-University Halle Wittenberg, Halle (Saale), Germany
• ⁹ Institute of Medical Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Computer Sciences, University Hospital in Halle, Halle (Saale), Germany

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) improves quality of life and prognosis in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). The aim of the study was to evaluate effects of lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) in patients with CHD during and after CR.Data from prospective, multicenter registry including 1,100 patients with CHD undergoing CR in 6German cardiac rehabilitation centers between 2016 and 2018 were analyzed.The rate of statin-treated patients increased from 1048 (96.3%) on admission to 1062 (98.4%) at discharge (p<0.001), falling to 644 (96.3%) and 609 (94.1%) at 3 and 12 months, respectively.Combination treatment with ezetimibe was effective in 8.9% of patients at admission and 28.5% at discharge (p<0.001), and 23.5% and 25.8% after 3 month and 12 months, respectively. Titration of LLT during CR resulted in median LDL-C-values of 2.27 mmol/l at admission, 1.97 mmol/l at discharge (p<0.001), 1.94 mmol/l after 3 months, and 1.94 mmol/l after 12 months, respectively.During CR, LLT was effectively instituted and titrated, resulting in a high rate of statin-treated patients and a significant reduction in LDL-C. From this study, we hypothesize that CR is efficacious for adherence to LLT.