Patient diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis after one dose of statin
Doctors say the case underscores the importance of early and regular creatine kinase monitoring
Doctors are being urged to closely monitor older patients on statins following a case in which a man developed rhabdomyolysis after just one day on the drug.
The 80-year-old man developed pain in the right calf after his first dose of atorvastatin while hospitalised for bronchitis, say the authors from West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
When blood tests showed significant increases in creatine kinase, myoglobin and potassium levels, he was diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis.
“This case emphasises the need to identify high-risk populations and provide early and more frequent creatine kinase measurements to help avoid statin-associated myopathy,” the doctors wrote in Sage Open Medical Case Reports.
