Statins: treatment duration and cardiovascular risk reduction

Statins: treatment duration and cardiovascular risk reduction 

I.V. Sergienko, Yu.A. Prus

National Medical Research Center of Cardiology, Moscow

Hyperlipidemia is one of the leading risk factors of cardiovascular diseases. According to European and Russian clinical guidelines, statins are the first-line therapies for hyperlipidemia. These agents have demonstrated their efficacy to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Adequate lipid-lowering treatment inhibits the progression of atherosclerosis and, therefore, prevents cardiovascular disorders and disability and reduces the rate of re-hospitalizations for myocardial revascularization. However, treatment success largely depends on adherence. Atorvastatin is one of the most effective, well-studied, most prescribed, and most sold drugs of this class. This paper reviews clinical studies on the efficacy of atorvastatin. Many large-scale clinical trials (GREACE, TNT, MIRACL, AVERT etc.) have demonstrated the efficacy of original atorvastatin for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovasc ular diseases. The use of atorvastatin in comorbid patients with diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and stroke is addressed. The authors also discuss the studies on atorvastatin safety. Ample evidence suggests that original atorvastatin is safe and well tolerated at doses of 10–80 mg.

Keywords: statins, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular diseases, cardiovascular risk.

For citation: Sergienko I.V., Prus Yu.A. Statins: treatment duration and cardiovascular risk reduction. RMJ. 2021;1:25–28.