Effect of Atorvastatin on lower extremity function of patients with hypertension and peripheral arterial disease.

This paper aims to discuss the short-term effect of Atorvastatin on lower-extremity function of patients with hypertension and peripheral arterial disease (PAD). 40 patients with hypertension and ankle-brachial index (ABI) less than 0.9 were divided into the control group (20 cases) and Atorvastatin group (20 cases) and treated for 6 months. The variation between the 6-min walk and the gait speed of 4-m-walk before and after the treatment were respectively observed. With regard to the two groups, differences of the drop-out values before and after the treatment were adjusted in accordance with gender, ages, body mass index (BMI), difference values of systolic pressure, ABI, difference values of total cholesterol (TC), difference values of low density lipoprotein, triacylglycerol, smoking and drug-taking situation. After the treatment, the 6-min walk had no obvious change between the two groups (P>0.05), but the 4-m normal and rapid walking speed changed obviously (P<0.01). Short-term therapy with atorvastatin can significantly delay the decline of the walking speed in short distance and improve the lower-extremity function of patients with hypertension and PAD.