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Despite promising findings in observational studies, results of a large randomized, controlled trial recently demonstrated no benefit of statins in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) secondary to sepsis (NEJM JW Gen Med May 29 2014). Whether ARDS from other causes might be amenable to statin treatment is unknown.
Investigators from the U.K. and Ireland randomized 540 patients with ARDS to receive either daily simvastatin (80 mg) or placebo. In more than half of patients, ARDS was caused by pneumonia; 41% of enrolled patients had sepsis. At 28 days, researchers found no difference between the groups in ventilator-free days, hospital length of stay, or mortality. More adverse events (e.g., elevated creatine kinase levels)…