Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Events in Adults With CKD Taking a Moderate- or High-Intensity Statin: The Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study

RATIONALE & OBJECTIVE: The 2018 American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology (AHA/ACC) cholesterol guideline uses risk stratification to guide the decision to initiate nonstatin lipid-lowering medication among adults with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). We determined atherosclerotic CVD (ASCVD) event rates among adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD) taking statin therapy within 2018 AHA/ACC cholesterol guideline risk categories. STUDY DESIGN: Observational cohort study. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS: Adults with CKD not on dialysis in the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) study who were taking a moderate/high-intensity statin 1 year after enrollment (baseline for the current analysis, n = 1,753). EXPOSURE: 2018 AHA/ACC cholesterol guideline risk categories: without a history of ASCVD, a history of 1 major ASCVD event and multiple high-risk conditions, and a history of ≥2 major ASCVD events. OUTCOME: Adjudicated ASCVD events after the year 1 study visit. ANALYTICAL APPROACH: We calculated age-sex standardized rates for ASCVD events and age-sex adjusted hazard ratios for ASCVD events accounting for the competing risk of death. RESULTS: There were 394 ASCVD events over a median follow-up period of 8 years. The ASCVD event rates (with 95% CI) per 1,000 person-years among participants without a history of ASCVD, with a history of 1 major ASCVD event and multiple high-risk conditions, and with a history of ≥2 major ASCVD events were 21.7 (18.4-25.1), 45.0 (37.8-52.3), and 73.3 (53.3-93.4), respectively. Compared with participants without a history of ASCVD, the HR (95% CI) rates for ASCVD events among those with a history of 1 major ASCVD event and multiple high-risk conditions, and with a history of ≥2 major ASCVD events were 1.89 (1.52-2.36) and 2.50 (1.85-3.39), respectively. LIMITATIONS: Data on whether participants were taking a maximally tolerated statin dosage were unavailable. CONCLUSIONS: The 2018 AHA/ACC cholesterol guideline identifies adults with CKD who have very high ASCVD risk despite taking a moderate/high-intensity statin.