Abstract: Objective To explore the effect of atorvastatin combined with nicotinic acid on unstable angina pectoris in the elderly patients and the influence on electrocardiogram (ECG) changes and hemorheological indexes. Methods A total of 80 elderly patients with unstable angina pectoris admitted to our hospital from January 2019 to January 2021 were prospectively selected and divided into the control group and the study group, with 40 cases in each group. The control group was treated with atorvastatin, while the study group was treated with atorvastatin combined with nicotinic acid. The curative effects of the two groups were compared. Results The effective rate of the study group was 97.50%, compared with 82.50% in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the frequency and duration of angina pectoris and the levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were significantly lower in the study group than those in the control group (P<0.01). The total effective rate of ECG improvement in the study group was 95.00%, compared with 80.00% in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the plasma viscosity, whole blood high shear viscosity and whole blood low shear viscosity in the study group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05 or 0.01). There was no significant difference in adverse reaction rate between the two groups (P=0.644). Conclusions Atorvastatin combined with nicotinic acid is effective in the treatment of unstable angina pectoris in the elderly patients, which can improve the hemorheological indexes and inflammation level, and is safe and worthy of clinical application.

Key words: atorvastatin, nicotinic acid, unstable angina pectoris, electrocardiogram, hemorheological index