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Direct Comparison Shows Rosuvastatin Achieves Greater Reductions Than Atorvastatin in LDL-C: Presented at CCC

By Danny Kucharsky

MONTREAL, CANADA -- October 27, 2005 -- Rosuvastatin 10 mg provides a broader benefit to the entire lipid profile than does atorvastatin 10 mg in a high- to very-high-risk patient population, a study presented at the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Congress 2005 (CCC) has found.

The Discovery-Canada study compared the efficacy of rosuvastatin with atorvastatin in achieving Canadian and European lipid goals after 12 weeks in patients with hypercholesterolemia.

Eligible patients from 177 centres entered a 2-week run-in period, followed by open-label randomisation to rosuvastatin 10 mg or atorvastatin 10 mg once daily for 12 weeks. A total of 2009 patients were randomised and 1917 were evaluable for efficacy.

Of the 1917 patients, 1289 were treated with rosuvastatin and 628 with atorvastatin, said lead investigator Christian Constance, MD, cardiologist, Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, during his presentation here on October 26^th.

At week 12, the rosuvastatin arm had a 43.6% decrease in low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol compared with 34.9% in the atorvastatin 10-mg group. High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol increased by 4.4% in the rosuvastatin group and by 2.2% in the atorvastatin group (P < .0001).

The researchers observed similar LDL decreases in statin-naive patients in the 2 treatment groups. As well, 53.9% of rosuvastatin patients achieved an LDL goal of < 2.0 mmol/L, compared with 29.8% of atorvastatin patients (P < .0001).

Adverse events were similar between the 2 groups, with no reported incidences of rhabdomyolysis in either treatment group.

Rosuvastatin "is highly efficacious at modifying the lipid profile and may improve the likelihood of reaching lipid goals," Dr. Constance concluded.


[Presentation title: Direct Statin Comparison of LDL-C Values: An Evaluation of Rosuvastatin Therapy (Discovery -- Canada). Abstract 490]

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