Lipid lowering helps bypass patients

Higher doses of the cholesterol-lowering drug (atorvastatin) in patients who have had heart bypass surgery can significantly improve outcomes. Researchers in America studied 10,001 patients with coronary disease, including 4,654 who had undergone heart bypass surgery. These patients were randomised to receive atorvastatin 80 or 10 mg/day and were followed up for nearly five years. By the end of the study, the average levels of "bad" LDL-cholesterol were much lower in patients taking 80 milligrams of atorvastatin daily than in those taking 10 milligrams every day. Moreover, nearly ten per cent of those taking high-dose atorvastatin suffered a major cardiovascular event (cardiac death, non-fatal heart attack, resuscitated cardiac arrest, or stroke) compared with 13 per cent of patients taking low-dose atorvastatin. It was also found that major heart-related "events" fell by 27 per cent and the need for repeat heart procedures dropped by 30 per cent with use of higher-dose atorvastatin. The findings show that "aggressive lipid-lowering" with atorvastatin 80 mg decreases major cardiovascular events and the need for repeat heart procedures in patients who have had heart bypass surgery. Heart bypass surgery patients represent an especially high-risk population as they have accelerated development and progression of atherosclerosis. Intensive lipid lowering treatment should be the new standard of care, with the goal of reducing heart-related illness and death.