PLOS Medicine

doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001310 Authors: Kazem Rahimi, Neeraj Bhala, Pieter Kamphuisen, Jonathan Emberson, Sara Biere-Rafi, Vera Krane, Michele Robertson, John Wikstrand, John McMurray

It has been suggested that statins substantially reduce the risk of venous thromboembolic events. We sought to test this hypothesis by performing a meta-analysis of both published and unpublished results from randomised trials of statins.The findings from this meta-analysis do not support the previous suggestion of a large protective effect of statins (or higher dose statins) on venous thromboembolic events. However, a more moderate reduction in risk up to about one-fifth cannot be ruled out.