Statins for carotid atherosclerosis

Conventional statin therapy appears to be efficient and safe for the reduction of the rate of carotid atherosclerosis progression. Long-term and aggressive statin therapy may provide superior efficacy for carotid atherosclerosis regression.

A systematic review including 10 studies with a total of 2,299 subjects was abstracted in DARE. Atherosclerosis was assessed with B-mode ultrasound. Statin therapy was associated with a reduction in carotid progression when compared with placebo (8 studies; WMD -22.35, 95% CI: -26.56 to -18.14). There was evidence of statistical heterogeneity (P<0.001). Aggressive statin therapy was associated with a greater reduction in carotid progression when compared with conventional statin therapy (2 studies; WMD -63.26, 95% CI: -71.08 to -55.14). There was evidence of statistical heterogeneity (P=0.053). No statistically significant difference was shown between the control and intervention groups in terms of the number of withdrawals or adverse events.

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by inconsistency (variability in results across studies).

Ədəbiyyat

1. Kang S, Wu Y, Li X. Effects of statin therapy on the progression of carotid atherosclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Atherosclerosis 2004 Dec;177(2):433-42.