A mayor cause of cirrhosis-related morbility and mortality is the development of variceal hemorrhage, a direct consequence of portal hypertension. In addition, survivors of an episode of active bleeding have a 70 % risk of recurrent hemorrhage within two years of the bleeding episode and the highest risk it is situated in the first six weeks after the hemorrhage episode.
The recommended treatment in AASLD guidelines is the combination of non selective Betablockers with endoscopic treatment with EVL, with high recurrence (30% in 2 years).
The hypothesis of this study is that statins are candidates for improving portal hypertension treatment in patients with cirrhosis, improving vascular function as well as preventing venous thrombotic events.
Patients with liver cirrhosis and variceal bleeding with standard treatment will be stratified and after randomized to undergo either statins (20 mg for 15 days, and after 40 mg/day) or placebo. They will be followed up for 12 months.
