Combination therapy linked to greater coronary plaque regression in Japanese patients
TUESDAY, July 28, 2015 (HealthDay News) — For Japanese patients who have undergone percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), atorvastatin plus ezetimibe is associated with improved outcomes versus atorvastatin alone, according to a study published in the Aug. 4 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Kenichi Tsujita, Ph.D., from Kumamoto University in Japan, and colleagues examined the effects of ezetimibe plus atorvastatin versus atorvastatin monotherapy on lipid profiles and coronary atherosclerosis in a randomized trial involving Japanese patients who underwent PCI.
The researchers found that, compared with atorvastatin monotherapy, the combination of atorvastatin/ezetimibe resulted in lower levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (63.2 ± 16.3 mg/dL versus 73.3 ± 20.3 mg/dL; P < 0.001). The mean between-group difference in the absolute change in percent atheroma volume (PAV: −1.538 percent) did not exceed the pre-defined noninferiority margin of 3 percent, but showed superiority for the dual lipid-lowering strategy (−1.4 versus −0.3 percent; P = 0.001). For PAV, coronary plaque regression was seen in a significantly greater percentage of patients who received atorvastatin/ezetimibe (78 versus 58 percent; P = 0.004). Acceptable side effect profiles were seen for both strategies, with a low incidence of laboratory abnormalities and cardiovascular events.
“Compared with standard statin monotherapy, the combination of statin plus ezetimibe showed greater coronary plaque regression, which might be attributed to cholesterol absorption inhibition-induced aggressive lipid lowering,” the authors write.
Two authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
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