Effect of combination of ezetimibe and atorvastatin on serum lipid in elderly patients with coronary artery disease

AIM:To observe the effect of combination of ezetimibe and atorvastatin on the serum lipid of elderly patients with coronary heart disease.METHODS:One hundred and seventy-six elderly patients with coronary artery disease whose serum lipid level did not meet normal criteria after taking atorvastatin20 mg/d were assigned randomly to two groups.Patients in high-dose atorvastatin group were treated with atorvastatin 40 mg/d and patients in combination group were treated with ezetimibe 10 mg/d and low-dose atorvastatin 20 mg/d.The changes of serum lipid and side effects were compared between the two groups.RESULTS:Total cholesterol(TC) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol(LDL-C) decreased significantly in both groups after the 12-week therapy(P 0.05).Compared with those in high-dose atorvastatin group,serum TC and LDL-C decreased markedly(P 0.05) and serum lipid control rate was much higher in combination group.However,the rate of hepatic damage in combination group was much lower than that in high-dose atorvastatin group.CONCLUSION;Compared with high-dose atorvastatin,combination of ezetimibe and low-dose atorvastatin,safe and well-tolerated,can more significantly decrease TC and LDL-C and improve serum lipid control rate.