Intensive lipid lowering with atorvastatin in patients with stable coronary disease

Abstract (PubMed)

We prospectively assessed the efficacy and safety of lowering LDL cholesterol levels below 100 mg/dL in patients with stable coronary heart disease. A total of 10,001 patients were randomly assigned to double-blind therapy with either 10 mg or 80 mg of atorvastatin per day, with a median follow-up of 4.9 years. The primary end point was the occurrence of a first major cardiovascular event (death from CHD, nonfatal MI, resuscitation after cardiac arrest, or fatal/nonfatal stroke). Mean LDL levels were 77 mg/dL with 80 mg atorvastatin and 101 mg/dL with 10 mg. Intensive atorvastatin (80 mg) significantly reduced major cardiovascular events compared with lower-dose atorvastatin, with a hazard ratio of 0.78 (95% CI 0.69-0.89), corresponding to a 22% relative risk reduction.