A Look Beyond Statins and Ezetimibe: a Review of Other Lipid-Lowering Treatments for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in High-Risk Patients

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Sabouret ◽  
Denis Angoulvant ◽  
Atul Pathak ◽  
Francesco Costa ◽  
Théo Pezel ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
L Rallidis ◽  
C Vlachopoulos ◽  
E Liberopoulos ◽  
I Skoumas ◽  
E Kiouri ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The recently published ESC/EAS guidelines for the management of dyslipidaemias have lowered the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) target in the very high risk patients below 55 mg/dL. Purpose To examine how achievable is this target in very high risk patients receiving a proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitor (PCSK9i) on top of lipid-lowering treatment (LLT). Methods The cohort comprised 158 patients who attended the lipid clinic of 3 hospitals in Greece and started treatment with PCSK9i. Patients were requested to attend the lipid clinic 3 months after the initiation of PCSK9i. Results Ninety percent of patients had heterozygous familial hypercholesterolaemia (heFH) and 75% had cardiovascular disease (CVD). One hundred forty patients were classified as very high risk because they had either cardiovascular disease (CVD) or heFH with an additional risk factor for whom a target <55 mg/dL is currently recommended. Of those very high risk patients, 105 (75%) were given PCSK9i due to failure to achieve LDL-C targets despite maximum LLT (high intensity statin at maximum tolerated dose + ezetimibe) while in the rest of cases the indication was statin intolerance. The mean reduction of LDL-C at 3 months was 56.2%. Among 105 very high risk patients (all had heFH), LDL-C below 55 mg/dL was achieved by 37.1% while the previously LDL-C target <70 mg/dL was achieved by 60% (Figure 1). Conclusions The new LDL-C target <55 mg/dL is achieved by <40% of very high risk patients with heFH despite receiving triple LLT, i.e. PCSK9i + statin + ezetimibe. This therapeutic gap suggests that there is still need for more effective LLT in very high risk heFH patients to maximize their clinical benefit. Figure 1 Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 135-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shafika Abrahams-Gessel ◽  
Andrea Beratarrechea ◽  
Vilma Irazola ◽  
Laura Gutierrez ◽  
Daniela Moyano ◽  
...  

IntroductionCardiovascular disease (CVD) accounts for approximately one-third of Argentina’s deaths. Despite government provision of free primary care health services to the uninsured population, with a focus on non-communicable diseases, screening and management of those with high CVD risk at primary care clinics (PCCs) remain low.Methods and analysisThis pragmatic cluster randomised trial will take place in two provinces of Argentina and will recruit 740 participants. Eight PCCs will be randomised to either the intervention or current practice arm. Community health workers (CHWs) in the intervention arm will be trained to use a set of integrated mHealth tools (a validated risk screening tool mobile application; electronic scheduling system using wireless access to PCCs; and educational text messages) to screen for CVD and to schedule appointments with primary care providers for persons with high CVD risk (≥10%). The primary aims of this study are to determine if the use of mHealth tools will (1) increase attendance of first appointments scheduled by CHWs for persons determined to have high risk for CVD during screening and, (2) lead to an increase in follow-up visits at PCCs by high risk patients. Secondary outcomes include assessing the proportion of high-risk patients receiving appropriate medications and a cost-effective analysis of the intervention.Ethics and disseminationThis study has been approved by the Institutional Review Boards at Partners/Brigham and Women’s Hospital (USA) and the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires (Argentina). The open-source software for the mHealth tools will be made publicly available at the end of the study.Trial registration numberNCT02913339.


Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 129 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David M Kern ◽  
Sanjeev Balu ◽  
Ozgur Tunceli ◽  
Swetha Raparla ◽  
Deborah Anzalone

Introduction: This study aimed to compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with different risk factors for CHD as defined by NCEP ATP III guidelines. Methods: Dyslipidemia patients (≥1 medical claim for dyslipidemia, ≥1 pharmacy claim for a statin, or ≥1 LDL-C value ≥100 mg/dL [index date]) aged ≥18 y were identified from the HealthCore Integrated Research Environment from 1/1/2007-7/31/2012. Patients were classified as low risk (0 or 1 risk factor): hypertension, age ≥45 y [men] or ≥55 y [women], or low HDL-C), moderate/moderately high risk (≥2 risk factors), high risk (having CHD or CHD risk equivalent), or very high risk (having ACS or other established cardiovascular disease plus diabetes or metabolic syndrome). Demographics, comorbidities, medication use and lipid levels during the 12 months prior, and statin use during the 6 months post-index date were compared across risk groups (very high vs each other risk group). Results: There were 1,524,351 low-risk (mean age: 47 y; 45% men), 242,357 moderate-risk (mean age: 58 y; 59% men), 188,222 high-risk (mean age: 57 y; 52% men), and 57,469 very-high-risk (mean age: 63 y; 61% men) patients identified. Mean Deyo-Charlson comorbidity score differed greatly across risk strata: 0.20, 0.33, 1.26, and 2.22 from low to very high risk (p<.0001 for each). Compared with high-risk patients, very-high-risk patients had a higher rate of ischemic stroke: 5.4% vs 4.1%; peripheral artery disease: 17.1% vs 11.6%; coronary artery disease: 8.5% vs 8.2%; and abdominal aortic aneurysm: 2.3% vs 2.0% (p<.05 for each). Less than 1% of the total population had a prior prescription for each non-statin lipid-lowering medication (bile acid sequestrants, fibrates, ezetimibe, niacin, and omega-3). Very-high-risk patients had lower total cholesterol (very-high-risk mean: 194 mg/dL vs 207, 205, and 198 mg/dL for low-, moderate-/moderately-high-, and high-risk patients, respectively) and LDL-C (very-high-risk mean: 110 mg/dL vs 126, 126, and 116 mg/dL for the other risk groups; p<.0001 for each); higher triglycerides (TG) (very-high-risk mean: 206 mg/dL vs 123, 177, and 167 mg/dL for the other groups; p<.0001 for each); and lower HDL-C (very-high-risk mean: 45 mg/dL vs 57 [p<.0001], 45 [p=.006], and 51 mg/dL [p<.0001]). Statin use was low overall (15%), but higher in the very-high-risk group (45%) vs the high- (29%), moderate-/moderately-high- (18%), and low- (12%) risk groups (p<.0001 for each). Conclusions: Despite a large proportion of patients having high lipid levels, statin use after a dyslipidemia diagnosis was low: ≥80% of all patients (and more than half at very high risk) failed to receive a statin, indicating a potentially large population of patients who could benefit from statin treatment. Prior use of non-statin lipid-lowering medications was also low considering the high TG and low HDL-C levels among high-risk patients.


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